3 Atlanta Falcons who stepped up in painful division thriller

2. Caleb Huntley

The Atlanta Falcons are about to have a great problem on their hands when Cordarrelle Patterson returns sometime in the next two weeks. When Patterson went down the thought was Atlanta would be forced to pass far more often and rely on Mariota to create the run game.

Instead since the Patterson injury, the Falcons set a season-high in rush attempts and have found an impact player in Huntley. Caleb was brought up from the practice squad to be the backup running back behind rookie Tyler Allgeier.

Huntley finished this game 91-yards and clearly was the more impactful runner. Huntley runs so hard even when he has two or three would-be tacklers hanging off of him he finds a way to fight for that one extra yard dragging defenders and falling for every inch. It is hard not to love this kid and what he has accomplished since Patterson has been injured.

With Arthur Smith’s love for the run game and utility players, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Atlanta line up with two backs with more regularity and perhaps use Patterson in the utility role he filled last year to open up more chances for Huntley.