Can Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson Maintain High Volume?

Patterson had a career game against the Saints Sunday.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

If football games were determined by which team had the most rushing yards, the Atlanta Falcons would be 1-0 after Sunday's contest against the New Orleans Saints. 

Unfortunately for the Falcons, it comes down to points. They lost 27-26 to the Saints in Atlanta to open the season.

Despite the loss, there was positive development in the team's running game. The Falcons logged 201 rushing yards, fourth-best in the league through Sunday's Week 1 games.

The Falcons carried three running backs: Cordarrelle Patterson, Damien Williams, and Avery Williams. Patterson was designed to be used as a chess-piece player with Damien Williams splitting the load in the backfield. However, Williams suffered a first quarter rib injury that knocked him out of the game, leading to Patterson having to dominate the carries (22 out of 26 running back carries; quarterback Marcus Mariota had 12). Avery Williams was used more than expected as a runner (two carries for seven yards and used on read options at times) and saw a target to relieve Patterson and Mariota.

Patterson's 120 rushing yards marked a career-high for the 10-year pro. Only Saquon Barkley (New York Giants), Jonathan Taylor (Indianapolis Colts), D'Andre Swift (Detroit Lions), Nick Chubb (Cleveland Browns), Leonard Fournette (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) ran for more yards than Patterson in the NFL's opening week.

For mostly the entire game, the Falcons offense worked. This is the primary formula they will use all season long to win games ... dominate in the run game, keep the other team's offense off the field and kill clock. The Falcons held possession of the football for over 33 minutes Sunday, a sign that the game plan is being executed. The only problem was the defense being unable to stop the Saints offense in the fourth quarter.

If Patterson remains healthy, there is no reason he shouldn't see a high volume of carries, especially if Damien Williams is out for an extended period of time. The team did deactivate fifth-round rookie Tyler Allgeier for yesterday's game, but if Williams sits, he might see some action.

Patterson finds himself with an opportunity to be one of the league's premier running backs, which is crazy considering he was anything but that when he came to Atlanta last year. If the Falcons are smart, they will ride the hot hand and feature Patterson in the offense as much as possible.

Patterson and the Falcons face the defending champion Los Angeles Rams Sunday at 4:05 p.m. at SoFi Stadium.

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