1985 Atlanta Falcons season

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.

1985 Atlanta Falcons season
OwnerRankin M. Smith Sr.
General managerTom Braatz
Head coachDan Henning
Home fieldFulton County Stadium
Results
Record4–12
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
1

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
Main article: 1985 NFL Draft
1985 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 2 Bill Fralic *  Guard Pittsburgh
2 45 Mike Gann  Defensive end Notre Dame
4 89 Emile Harry  Wide receiver Stanford
6 152 Reggie Pleasant  Defensive back Clemson
8 201 Ashley Lee  Defensive back Virginia Tech
8 215 Ronnie Washington  Linebacker Northeast Louisiana
9 228 Micah Moon  Linebacker North Carolina
10 257 Brent Martin  Center Stanford
11 284 John Ayres  Defensive back Illinois
12 313 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 final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • 10 Steve Bartkowski QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 8 Detroit Lions L 27–28 0–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 37,785 Recap
2 September 15 at San Francisco 49ers L 16–35 0–2 Candlestick Park 58,923 Recap
3 September 22 Denver Broncos L 28–44 0–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 37,903 Recap
4 September 29 at Los Angeles Rams L 6–17 0–4 Anaheim Stadium 49,870 Recap
5 October 6 San Francisco 49ers L 17–38 0–5 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 44,740 Recap
6 October 13 at Seattle Seahawks L 26–30 0–6 Kingdome 60,430 Recap
7 October 20 New Orleans Saints W 31–24 1–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 44,784 Recap
8 October 27 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–24 1–7 Texas Stadium 57,941 Recap
9 November 3 Washington Redskins L 10–44 1–8 Atlanta–Fulton County Coliseum 42,209 Recap
10 November 10 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–23 1–9 Veterans Stadium 63,694 Recap
11 November 17 Los Angeles Rams W 30–14 2–9 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 29,960 Recap
12 November 24 at Chicago Bears L 0–36 2–10 Soldier Field 61,769 Recap
13 December 1 Los Angeles Raiders L 24–43 2–11 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 20,858 Recap
14 December 8 at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–38 2–12 Arrowhead Stadium 18,199 Recap
15 December 15 Minnesota Vikings W 14–13 3–12 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 14,167 Recap
16 December 22 at New Orleans Saints W 16–10 4–12 Louisiana Superdome 37,717 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 10
1 234OTTotal
Falcons 0 00170 17
• Eagles 0 14306 23
Scoring summary
2PHIEarnest Jackson 8 yard run (Paul McFadden kick)Eagles 7–0
2PHIRon Jaworski 1 yard run (Paul McFadden kick)Eagles 14–0
3PHIPaul McFadden 30 yard field goalEagles 17–0
4ATLJoe Washington 18 yard pass from David Archer (Mick Luckhurst kick)Eagles 17–7
4ATLGerald Riggs 1 yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick)Eagles 17–14
4ATLMick Luckhurst 27 yard field goalTie 17–17
OTPHIMike Quick 99 yard pass from Ron JaworskiEagles 23–17

[5]

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams(2) 11 5 0 .688 3–3 8–4 340 277 L1
San Francisco 49ers(5) 10 6 0 .625 4–2 7–5 411 263 W2
New Orleans Saints 5 11 0 .313 2–4 5–7 294 401 L3
Atlanta Falcons 4 12 0 .250 3–3 4–8 282 452 W2

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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