1985 Atlanta Falcons season

Last updated

1985 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager Tom Braatz
Head coach Dan Henning
Home stadium Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th NFC West
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
1

The 1985 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise’s 20th season in the National Football League (NFL). They finished last in the NFC West with a record of four wins and twelve losses.

Contents

This season marked the first time since 1972 that the Falcons played the Kansas City Chiefs, and merely the second in team history. [1] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season. They were provisionally scheduled to play in 1976, but that game was scrapped to make room for games against the newly formed Buccaneers and Seahawks, [2] and actually scheduled to play in 1982, but that game was cancelled by a player's strike. [3]

Offseason

NFL draft

1985 Atlanta Falcons draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
12 Bill Fralic *  Guard Pittsburgh
245 Mike Gann   Defensive end Notre Dame
489 Emile Harry   Wide receiver Stanford
6152 Reggie Pleasant   Defensive back Clemson
8201Ashley Lee Defensive back Virginia Tech
8215 Ronnie Washington   Linebacker Northeast Louisiana
9228Micah Moon Linebacker North Carolina
10257Brent Martin  Center Stanford
11284John Ayres Defensive back Illinois
12313 Ken Whisenhunt   Tight end Georgia Tech
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[4]

Personnel

Staff

1985 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Assistant head coach/defensive line – Dan Sekanovich
  • Defensive coordinator – John Marshall
  • Linebackers – Bobby Jackson
  • Secondary – Jack Stanton
  • Defensive assistant – Joe Madden

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – George Dostal

Roster

1985 Atlanta Falcons roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 8 Detroit Lions L 27–280–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 37,785 Recap
2September 15at San Francisco 49ers L 16–350–2 Candlestick Park 58,923 Recap
3September 22 Denver Broncos L 28–440–3Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium37,903 Recap
4September 29at Los Angeles Rams L 6–170–4 Anaheim Stadium 49,870 Recap
5October 6 San Francisco 49ers L 17–380–5Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium44,740 Recap
6October 13at Seattle Seahawks L 26–300–6 Kingdome 60,430 Recap
7October 20 New Orleans Saints W 31–241–6Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium44,784 Recap
8October 27at Dallas Cowboys L 10–241–7 Texas Stadium 57,941 Recap
9November 3 Washington Redskins L 10–441–8Atlanta–Fulton County Coliseum42,209 Recap
10November 10at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–231–9 Veterans Stadium 63,694 Recap
11November 17 Los Angeles Rams W 30–142–9Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium29,960 Recap
12November 24at Chicago Bears L 0–362–10 Soldier Field 61,769 Recap
13December 1 Los Angeles Raiders L 24–432–11Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium20,858 Recap
14December 8at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–382–12 Arrowhead Stadium 18,199 Recap
15December 15 Minnesota Vikings W 14–133–12Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium14,167 Recap
16December 22at New Orleans Saints W 16–104–12 Louisiana Superdome 37,717 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 10

Team1234OTTotal
Falcons00017017
• Eagles01430623
Scoring summary
2PHI Earnest Jackson 8 yard run (Paul McFadden kick)Eagles 7–0
2PHI Ron Jaworski 1 yard run (Paul McFadden kick)Eagles 14–0
3PHIPaul McFadden 30 yard field goalEagles 17–0
4ATL Joe Washington 18 yard pass from David Archer (Mick Luckhurst kick)Eagles 17–7
4ATL Gerald Riggs 1 yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick)Eagles 17–14
4ATLMick Luckhurst 27 yard field goalTie 17–17
OTPHI Mike Quick 99 yard pass from Ron JaworskiEagles 23–17

[5]

Standings

NFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Los Angeles Rams (2)1150.6883–38–4340277L1
San Francisco 49ers (5)1060.6254–27–5411263W2
New Orleans Saints 5110.3132–45–7294401L3
Atlanta Falcons 4120.2503–34–8282452W2

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ Atlanta Falcons v Kansas City Chiefs
  2. ↑ Urena, Ivan (2013). Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. pp. 75–78. ISBN   978-0786473519.
  3. ↑ History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats
  4. ↑ "1985 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  6. ↑ 1990 NFL Pro Set Bill Fralic trading card, Card No. 34, Pro Set Properties
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