What the Falcons' Week 5 snap counts say about this team's plans in 2026

Box scores tell you what happened. Snap counts tell you what a coaching staff actually believes. After the Atlanta Falcons’ 30-23 overtime heartbreaker of a loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football, what changed or remained the same from our Week 1-4 look at the snap counts?

Wrapping up a consecutive trio of primetime games at 2-1, this was the toughest opponent so far this season for the Falcons, with or without MVP QB Lamar Jackson at the helm. The talented defense led by Kyle Hamilton and Roquan Smith stumped the Falcons offense to just 16 points after consecutive weeks that saw 80 points of production.

In win or defeat, the snap counts get that much more clearly indicative of how this Kevin Stefanski and this new regime actually wants to run things.

What did we learn from the Atlanta Falcons' Week 5 snap counts?

Though he registered two catches and Chris Blair did not register one, Blair continues to get more snaps than rookie Zachariah Branch, but Branch is closing in on WR4 by the week. After trading Week 1 and 2 (Blair 10/Branch 18, Blair 34/Branch 14), Blair has a whopping two more snaps than Branch the previous three weeks. We got a position battle on our hands, and as we have discussed here in previous weeks, it is a matter of time before Branch breaks away.

The biggest uptick? Veteran edge rusher Samson Ebukam. This is the first time this season Cameron Thomas did not lead the defensive line-centric group, with Ebukam handling 76% of the total defensive snaps vs the Ravens after his own season-high of 59% vs the Saints. His strong play is earning more and more snaps in the absence of Za’Darius Smith.

The two rookie linebackers there’s enough sample size at this point to conclude the precise, calculated allotment based on matchup. First two games: Harold Perkins Jr. 36.8% of the snaps/Kendal Daniels 64.7%. Last two winning games? Perkins 67.9%/Daniels 38.6%. Sunday vs the run-heavy Ravens? Saw the thumper, Daniels, back to the 66% majority compared to pass rusher and pass coverage specialist Perkins’s 33%. Incredible value is shown from both, but at a 6th-round price tag, extraordinary steps are being taken by Perkins. With the Bears coming to town this week and Bears QB Caleb Williams looking likely to return from his hamstring injury, expect Perkins to get that ⅔.

Rookie CB Avieon Terrell has seen his shares go from 34%, 39%, 20%, 49%, and 57% vs the Ravens. The versatile boundary and slot security the Falcons bet on taking the value of Terrell in the second round of the NFL Draft has come to fruition with Billy Bowman Jr. coming back from injury, brother A.J. on injured reserve, and recent fan favorite C.J. Henderson leaving the game hurt.

After back-to-back weeks in which Billy Bowman Jr. more than doubled the snap share of Sydney Brown in the slot, the coaches went with the hot hand. Brown’s 32 snaps compared to Bowman’s 33% was a drastic gap closure. 5 tackles and a critical forced fumble by Brown for a Jessie Bates III touchdown return make him an interesting point to come back to when we read the snap counts here after the Falcons’ Week 6 matchup vs the Chicago Bears in Atlanta.

Might think it silly to call a Week 6 game “must win”, but the Falcons need this one vs the Bears very badly after a crushing loss at home to the Ravens. At 2-3, yes, the Falcons have a game on the mutual 1-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints (and the tie-break) within the division, but the 2-2 Carolina Panthers will be fresh off a bye week and will have a half-game lead of sorts and the tie-break over Atlanta. Frankly, 3-3 is about where this team should be, in relation to new management’s timeline, the division, and the personnel employed vs. a strong schedule. Want that Weeks 4 & 5 excitement and favor of the fan base and media? Get back in the win column, particularly for QB Michael Penix Jr. and his availability in the plans for the future.

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