Falcons vs. Buccaneers: Atlanta Features More Receiver Sets In Week 2

A trio of Atlanta Falcons receivers saw more playing time against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It was pretty apparent the Atlanta Falcons had a different game plan Sunday than they did in the season opener. The offensive player snap counts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers indicate that as well.

Facing the top run defense from 2020, the Falcons offense featured more formations with multiple receivers. In Week 1, head coach Arthur Smith deployed a lot of multiple-back and tight end sets, especially in the first half when the game was still close.

Receivers Olamide Zaccheaus, Tajae Sharpe and Christian Blake all played more snaps against Tampa Bay than Philadelphia. For Zaccheaus, the increase was significant. The third-year wideout played 42 snaps in Week 2 after only 19 in Week 1.

Zaccheaus benefited from the Falcons deploying more three-receiver sets, but he also cut into Russell Gage's playing time. Gage saw his snap count drop from 49 in the opener to 38.

Despite Zaccheaus finishing second among Falcons receivers in snaps, Gage still had more catches and yards. Gage had five receptions for 28 yards, while Zaccheaus hauled in two passes for 22 yards. Gage received seven targets and Zaccheaus had four.

Falcons No. 1 receiver Calvin Ridley didn't see a significant change in snaps. He been on the field for 61 and 60 plays, respectively, in two games. Coincidentally, the Falcons offense had 72 snaps in both games.

Like Zaccheaus, rookie tight end Kyle Pitts played more against Tampa Bay. Pitts saw his snaps go from 49 to 57, second among the pass catchers to Ridley.

As a result of Pitts' increased playing time, fellow tight end Hayden Hurst played less. Hurst went from 43 to 30.

Here are the snap counts for all the Falcons offensive players from Week 2:

Player	Number of Snaps	Percentage of Snaps
Kaleb McGary	72	100%
Jake Matthews	72	100%
Chris Lindstrom	72	100%
Matt Hennessy	72	100%
Jalen Mayfield	72	100%
Matt Ryan	66	91.7%
Calvin Ridley	60	83.3%
Kyle Pitts	57	79.2%
Mike Davis	46	63.9%
Olamide Zaccheaus	42	58.3%
Russell Gage	38	52.8%
Hayden Hurst	30	41.7%
Cordarrelle Patterson	24	33.33%
Keith Smith	18	25.0%
Lee Smith	13	18.1%
Tajae Sharpe	13	18.1%
Christian Blake	13	18.1%
Parker Hesse	6	8.3%
Josh Rosen	6	8.3%

While the Falcons turned to their younger players like Pitts and Zaccheaus on offense, Atlanta didn't feature many of its youngsters on defense. Second-round pick Richie Grant didn't play a single defensive snap, as the Falcons kept him only on special teams against the Buccaneers.

Fifth-round pick Ta'Quon Graham made his NFL debut Sunday, playing 13 defensive snaps. But that was still under a quarter of the team's total defensive plays.

Linebacker Mykal Walker, who started six games last season, has seen only nine snaps in two games. John Cominsky, a 2019 fourth-round pick, was inactive and didn't play at all.

Here are the snap counts for all the Falcons defensive players from Week 2:

Player	Number of Snaps	Snap Percentage
Deion Jones	63	100%
Foyesade Oluokun	63	100%
Fabian Moreau	62	98.4%
Erik Harris	56	88.9%
Duron Harmon	54	85.7%
Steven Means	47	74.6%
Dante Fowler	45	71.4%
AJ Terrell	44	69.8%
Grady Jarrett	43	68.3%
Isaiah Oliver	39	61.9%
Tyeler Davison	34	54.0%
Jonathan Bullard	32	50.8%
Marlon Davidson	23	36.5%
Adetokunbo Ogundeji	21	33.3%
TJ Green	20	31.7%
Jaylinn Hawkins	16	25.4%
Ta'Quon Graham	13	20.6%
Jacob Tuioti-Mariner	11	17.5%
Mykal Walker	5	7.9%
Brandon Copeland	2	3.2%