Falcons vs. Saints: Snap counts for Week 3’s loss Your weekly snap counts follow. I’m still trying to pretend the game ended after the Falcons scored 37 points with an Atlanta victory Youth Marcus Green Jersey , so this is a short preamble. OffenseJake Matthews: 68Wes Schweitzer: 68Alex Mack: 68Brandon Fusco: 68Ryan Schraeder: 68Matt Ryan: 68Mohamed Sanu: 59Austin Hooper: 58Julio Jones: 54Tevin Coleman: 53Calvin Ridley: 42Logan Paulsen: 21Justin Hardy: 15Marvin Hall: 12Ito Smith: 10Ricky Ortiz: 9Eric Saubert: 5Russell Gage: 2Despite a huge day for the offense overall, there were some players here who didn’t do much with their snaps. I include the line in that. Mohamed Sanu is forgiven because he’s still blocking well even as his role in the passing game fades, but the offensive line had an uneven day and I genuinely didn’t even notice Ortiz’s nine snaps. He’s had a couple of solid blocks thus far, but on a day where the ground game was borderline useless, his blocking was not a noticeable net benefit for this offense. The good news is that Ridley did a ton playing about two-thirds of the snaps, Ito Smith was awfully useful for just 10, and Ryan did a great job of spreading the ball around to his many weapons. The offense made some questionable decisions leading up to the half and need to be more balanced going forward, but it was still a hell of a day for them. DefenseRobert Alford: 78Desmond Trufant: 77De’Vondre Campbell: 76Damontae Kazee: 73Brian Poole: 70Grady Jarrett: 66Ricardo Allen: 66Vic Beasley: 65Duke Riley: 63Brooks reed: 62Terrell McClain: 41Deadrin Senat: 29Jordan Richards: 25Jack Crawford: 21Foye Oluokun: 19Steven Means: 18Isaiah Oliver: 11Justin Zimmer: 9The Falcons played their best defenders a ton in this one Youth Terrell McClain Jersey , and while they had an uneven day overall at best, they really looked like they were tiring in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Falcons barely used Steven Means, leaning heavily on Brooks Reed and Vic Beasley with decidedly mixed results, and will have to hope that Means can earn more playing time in the coming weeks or that Takk comes back quickly. Ditto at defensive tackle, where the Flacons made the curious decision to use Crawford, arguably their second best pass rusher at defensive tackle, less than either McClain or Senat. It’s hard to argue that the pass rush benefitted from that decision. Jordan Richards’ usage and Keith Tandy being parked on the inactives list should tell us how the Falcons will handle the strong safety position in Week 4 with Ricardo Allen out for the rest of the year, as anyone they sign is going to need to get up to speed. It’ll be Kazee and Richards back there with Tandy and maybe Brian Poole as key depth for at least one week Stitched Logan Paulsen Jersey , but don’t count the Falcons out of trading or signing a free agent to take over the position soon, especially if Richards falters. Otherwise, there’s not a lot of surprising usage here. Oliver’s role should increase with Poole potentially getting a look at safety and struggling plenty in coverage, while Oluokun’s injury and Riley’s improvement in Week 3 probably means he’s not going to step into a bigger role anytime soon. It’ll be worth watching whether the Falcons use Crawford and Justin Zimmer more in an effort to goose the pass rush, too.Special TeamsRussell Gage: 25Kemal Ishmael: 23Foye Oluokun: 22Jordan Richards: 21Eric Saubert: 21Justin Bethel: 20Marvin Hall: 18Damontae Kazee: 18Isaiah Oliver: 18Matt Bosher: 17Richard Jarvis: 17Robert Alford: 16Justin Hardy: 15Logan Paulsen: 12Josh Harris: 10Brian Hill: 10Jack Crawford: 9It wasn’t all great, but teams looked better this week, and the decision to trot Marvin Hall out there for returns looked like a solid one, as he’s far more explosive than Justin Hardy. Returns have still been pretty dismal overall Youth Logan Paulsen Jersey , but the coverage unit is at least picking up their game.It helps to have Russell Gage out there, as he already looks like the terrific special teamer he was advertised as. The Falcons have lined up some fast, physical players there, though, and the additions of Oluokun, Richards, Bethel and Gage have gone a long way early here in the season. If Alford looked like he was a little shaky in this one—and he did—perhaps the Falcons would consider dialing back his special teams snaps a bit. He’s a great player in both situations, but with the secondary depleted Stitched Brandon Fusco Jersey , the last thing they need to do is wear out their #2 cornerback further. ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have released cornerback Robert Alford, a second-round pick in 2013 who had 10 career interceptions but none this season.The move, announced by the team on Tuesday night, could clear the way for Isaiah Oliver, a 2018 second-round pick, to start. As a rookie, Oliver cut into Alford’s playing time.Alford signed a four-year, $38 million contract extension after the 2016 season. His release will clear $7.9 million in cap space for the 2019 season.In a statement released by the team Youth Brandon Fusco Jersey , general manager Thomas Dimitroff thanked the 30-year-old Alford “for all that he brought to the team during his six seasons in Atlanta.”“He was a significate contributor to our defense and we have a great deal of respect for him,” Dimitroff said. “We wish Robert all the best going forward.”Alford used his Twitter account to say “Thank you Atlanta for 6 incredible seasons. Sucks that it ended on this note. I enjoyed playing in this incredible city.”Alford also said “I’m excited for the next chapter.”Alford had 50 tackles and was plagued by penalties in his 15 games in 2018.His career highlight came when he returned an interception off Tom Brady for a touchdown in Atlanta’s Super Bowl 51 loss to the Patriots.