Defensive snaps

[NewsZombieBot]

A look at the snaps played by New England Patriots defenders in the team's 26-10 win over the Falcons as charted in the press box (small margin for error): LB Gary Guyton -- 46 of 46 snaps
S Brandon Meriweather -- 46 of 46
CB Leigh Bodden -- 45 of 46
CB Shawn Springs -- 45 of 46
DL Jarvis Green -- 41 of 46
S Brandon McGowan -- 33 of 46
S James Sanders -- 30 of 46
OLB Adalius Thomas -- 30 of 46
DL Ty Warren -- 30 of 46
DL Myron Pryor -- 27 of 46
DL Mike Wright -- 26 of 46
OLB/DE Tully Banta-Cain -- 25 of 46
DL Vince Wilfork -- 25 of 46
LB Pierre Woods -- 21 of 46
DE/OLB Derrick Burgess -- 19 of 46
CB Terrence Wheatley -- 16 of 46
LB Eric Alexander -- 1 of 46 (The Falcons had 45 official plays. One kneel down is not included while an offensive pass interference penalty and false start are included.) ANALYSIS: This was a game in which the Patriots mixed their looks between the 3-4, 4-3 and dime package (six defensive backs). The constant in each package was Guyton, who continues to fill in for the injured Jerod Mayo. One of the questions entering the season was if Guyton was ready to take the step from part-time to full-time linebacker, and it appears he is. He finished with a team-high in tackles for the second week in a row (7). ... Meriweather also bounced back with a solid performance after struggling against the Jets, as he was the other player to go wire to wire. ... Pryor was the choice over second-rounder Ron Brace (did not play) after Wilfork left the game with an ankle injury. ... Derrick Burgess played from a two-point stance as an outside linebacker early in the game, before returning to his standard defensive end spot. ... The only time Bodden and Springs came off the field was on Michael Turner's 2-yard touchdown run, with the Patriots putting their short-yardage defense on the field. ... Wheatley was the dime back (sixth defensive back).

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[Wandering Athol]

Couple of thoughts:
1) Although the Pats D wasn't on the field for too many snaps yesterday, I'm noticing Green getting a lot of PT again. We'll see if this develops into a trend. There was a similar trend with Vrabel the last two seasons.
2) Interesting that the 6th-round pick gets 27 snaps, while the 2nd-round pick rides the bench.
3) Nice to see Alexander not only take over Izzo's role on special teams, but also as the guy BB only puts on the field during goal line situations in which the other team inevitable scores.