1986 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1986 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 21st season in the National Football League (NFL). It began with moderate expectations.[1] Head coach Dan Henning was going into his fourth year having failed to post a record above .500 in any of his first three seasons. Local media, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saw it as Henning's last chance to save his head coaching job.[2] Atlanta entered the season led by, among others, Gerald Riggs,[3] Scott Case, Bill Fralic and Jeff Van Note. David Archer was the starting quarterback heading into the season.[4]

1986 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coachDan Henning
Home fieldFulton County Stadium
Results
Record7–8–1
Division place3rd NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
2

The Falcons won their first 4 games, but their season was effectively ruined by going 3-8-1 afterwards.

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 1986 NFL Draft
1986 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 2 Tony Casillas  Defensive tackle Oklahoma
1 17 Tim Green  Linebacker Syracuse
6 154 Floyd Dixon  Wide receiver Stephen F. Austin
6 159 Keith Williams  Wide receiver Missouri State
8 197 Kevin Hudgens  Defensive end Idaho State
9 224 Kevin Starks  Tight end Minnesota
10 252 Tony Baker  Running back East Carolina
11 280 Chris Hegg  Quarterback Truman State
12 308 Steve Griffin  Wide receiver Purdue
      Made roster  

[5]

Personnel

Staff
1986 Atlanta Falcons staff
Front office
  • Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr.
  • President – Rankin M. Smith, Jr.
  • Executive vice president – Taylor Smith
  • Director of player personnel – Tom Braatz
  • Director of pro personnel – Bill Jobko
  • Assistant for research and development – Joe Madden

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – George Dostal

Roster
1986 Atlanta Falcons final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Season summary

The Falcons began the 1986 season strong by winning their first four games 4–0 start, beating their NFC West rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 31–10 in the season opener. They opened at home in Atlanta with a 33–13 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Then, after a thrilling 37–35 win in Dallas, they beat the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23–20. The first loss came to the Philadelphia Eagles, whose strong defense coached by Buddy Ryan took care of the Falcons 16–0. Henning didn't let the loss affect his team as they beat the playoff bound Los Angeles Rams 26–14, putting the Falcons in first place with a record of 5-1. Things seemed to be going great for Atlanta, as they were able to tie the powerhouse San Francisco 49ers 10–10. Following the tie to the 49ers, a five-game slide derailed the season, starting with a 14–7 loss to the Rams, then a 25–17 loss to the defending AFC champion New England Patriots. They returned home to face the 8–1 New York Jets, where they lost 28–14 to drop them to 5–4–1. The next week a 13–10 loss to the Chicago Bears knocked them into last place in the division. Their last loss of the streak was a 20–0 loss to the 49ers. The now 5–6–1 Falcons ended their winless streak against the Miami Dolphins in a 20–14 victory. The nadir of the season came in a 28–23 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, who started the year 0–13, and was the Colts’ first win of the year. By that time, the Falcons were out of the playoff picture with Los Angeles and San Francisco already in. The Falcons dropped their last home game 14–9 to New Orleans. They concluded their season with a 20–6 victory against the Detroit Lions.

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 7 at New Orleans Saints W 31–10 1–0 Louisiana Superdome 67,950 Recap
2 September 14 St. Louis Cardinals W 33–13 2–0 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 46,463 Recap
3 September 21 at Dallas Cowboys W 37–35 3–0 Texas Stadium 62,880 Recap
4 September 28 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–20 4–0 Tampa Stadium 38,950 Recap
5 October 5 Philadelphia Eagles L 0–16 4–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 57,104 Recap
6 October 12 Los Angeles Rams W 26–14 5–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 51,662 Recap
7 October 19 San Francisco 49ers T 10–10 (OT) 5–1–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 55,306 Recap
8 October 26 at Los Angeles Rams L 7–14 5–2–1 Anaheim Stadium 56,993 Recap
9 November 2 at New England Patriots L 17–25 5–3–1 Sullivan Stadium 60,597 Recap
10 November 9 New York Jets L 14–28 5–4–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 53,476 Recap
11 November 16 Chicago Bears L 10–13 5–5–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 55,520 Recap
12 November 23 at San Francisco 49ers L 0–20 5–6–1 Candlestick Park 58,747 Recap
13 November 30 at Miami Dolphins W 20–14 6–6–1 Miami Orange Bowl 53,762 Recap
14 December 7 Indianapolis Colts L 23–28 6–7–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 30,397 Recap
15 December 14 New Orleans Saints L 9–14 6–8–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 39,994 Recap
16 December 21 at Detroit Lions W 20–6 7–8–1 Pontiac Silverdome 35,255 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1
See also: 1986 New Orleans Saints season
Atlanta Falcons (0–0) at New Orleans Saints (0–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 7 7 71031
Saints 0 3 0710

at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Game information

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(3) 10 5 1 .656 3–2–1 6–5–1 374 247 W3
Los Angeles Rams(5) 10 6 0 .625 3–3 8–4 309 267 L2
Atlanta Falcons 7 8 1 .469 2–3–1 6–5–1 280 280 W1
New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 288 287 L1

Rankings for 1986 season

Atlanta was 6th in scoring defense allowing 280 points, 21st in scoring offense scoring 280 points. Passing; 246 completions of 452 attempts for 3046 yards. David Archer threw for 10 of the teams 14 passing touchdowns, Turk Schonert threw the other four. Archer had nine of the teams 17 interceptions, and Schonert was picked the other eight times. The team rushed for 12 touchdowns nine of which came from Gerald Riggs, one from Schonert, one from William Andrews, one Cliff Austin.

References
  1. "Picking the Falcons to go 9–7, starting with a win over the Saints". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. September 7, 1986.
  2. "Falcons hoping for fast start in New Orleans opener". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. September 7, 1986.
  3. "Riggs makes backfield whole again". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. September 5, 1986.
  4. "Archer reports bruised right shoulder feeling 'fair'". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. September 3, 1986.
  5. "1986 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
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