2013 Atlanta Falcons season

The 2013 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 48th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the sixth under head coach Mike Smith. The Falcons entered the season as one of the Super Bowl favorites; however, due to multiple key injuries to the team, the Falcons failed to improve on their 13–3 season from 2012, finishing 4-12. They did not qualify for postseason contention for the first time since 2009 and secured the Falcons’ first losing season since 2007.

2013 Atlanta Falcons season
OwnerArthur Blank
General managerThomas Dimitroff
Head coachMike Smith
Home fieldGeorgia Dome
Results
Record4–12
Division place3rd NFC South
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersTE Tony Gonzalez
Uniform

2013 draft class
Main article: 2013 NFL Draft
2013 Atlanta Falcons Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollege
122[a] Desmond TrufantCBWashington
260 Robert AlfordCBSoutheastern Louisiana
4127 Malliciah GoodmanDEClemson
133[b] Levine ToiloloTEStanford
5153[c] Stansly MapongaDETCU
7[c]243[b] Kemal IshmaelSCentral Florida
244[b] Zeke MottaSNotre Dame
249[b] Sean RenfreeQBDuke

Notes

^[a] The Falcons traded their first- (No. 30 overall), third (No. 92 overall) and sixth- (No. 198 overall) round selections to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for the Rams' 2013 first-round selection (No. 22 overall) and a 2015 seventh-round selection.
^[b] Compensatory selection.
^[c] The Falcons traded their fifth- (No. 163 overall) and original seventh- (No. 236 overall) round selections to the Chicago Bears in exchange for the Bears' fifth-round selection (No. 153 overall).

Staff
2013 Atlanta Falcons staff
Front office
  • Owner/chairman – Arthur Blank
  • President/CEO – Rich McKay
  • General manager – Thomas Dimitroff
  • Director of player personnel – Lionel Vital
  • Director of football administration – Nick Polk
  • Director of pro scouting – DeJuan Polk
  • Director of college scouting – Steve Sabo

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams coordinator – Keith Armstrong
  • Assistant special teams – Eric Sutulovich

Strength and conditioning

  • Head strength and conditioning – A. J. Neibel
  • Strength and conditioning assistant – Jonas Beauchemin

Final roster
2013 Atlanta Falcons final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists
  • 72 Sam Baker T (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 71 Kroy Biermann DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 34 Bradie Ewing FB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 79 Mike Johnson T (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 11 Julio Jones WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 26 Saeed Lee CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 41 Zeke Motta SS (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 82 Adam Nissley TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 91 Corey Peters DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 12 Sean Renfree QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 85 Andrew Szczerba TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 53 active, 11 inactive, 6 practice squad

Depth chart

Schedule

Preseason
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordGame siteNFL.com
recap
1 August 8 Cincinnati Bengals L 10–34 0–1 Georgia Dome Recap
2 August 15 at Baltimore Ravens L 23–27 0–2 M&T Bank Stadium Recap
3 August 24 at Tennessee Titans L 16–27 0–3 LP Field Recap
4 August 29 Jacksonville Jaguars L 16–20 0–4 Georgia Dome Recap

Regular season
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordGame siteNFL.com
recap
1 September 8 at New Orleans Saints L 17–23 0–1 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap
2 September 15 St. Louis Rams W 31–24 1–1 Georgia Dome Recap
3 September 22 at Miami Dolphins L 23–27 1–2 Sun Life Stadium Recap
4 September 29 New England Patriots L 23–30 1–3 Georgia Dome Recap
5 October 7 New York Jets L 28–30 1–4 Georgia Dome Recap
6 Bye
7 October 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 31–23 2–4 Georgia Dome Recap
8 October 27 at Arizona Cardinals L 13–27 2–5 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
9 November 3 at Carolina Panthers L 10–34 2–6 Bank of America Stadium Recap
10 November 10 Seattle Seahawks L 10–33 2–7 Georgia Dome Recap
11 November 17 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 28–41 2–8 Raymond James Stadium Recap
12 November 21 New Orleans Saints L 13–17 2–9 Georgia Dome Recap
13 December 1 at Buffalo Bills W 34–31 (OT) 3–9 Rogers Centre (Toronto) Recap
14 December 8 at Green Bay Packers L 21–22 3–10 Lambeau Field Recap
15 December 15 Washington Redskins W 27–26 4–10 Georgia Dome Recap
16 December 23 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–34 4–11 Candlestick Park Recap
17 December 29 Carolina Panthers L 20–21 4–12 Georgia Dome Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
 #  Indicates that the Falcons were the visiting team in the Bills Toronto Series.

Week 1: at New Orleans Saints
Week One: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 10 0 7017
Saints 0 13 7323

at Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

The Falcons would travel to New Orleans to open their season. The Falcons would carry a 17-13 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Saints would score a touchdown with 6:22 remaining. The Falcons would try to rally, but the comeback fell short, as the Saints would add a field goal to win 23-17. With the loss, the Falcons started their season 0-1 for the second time in 3 seasons.

Week 2: vs. St. Louis Rams
Week Two: St. Louis Rams at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rams 0 3 71424
Falcons 14 10 0731

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

  • Date: September 15
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 70,056
  • Referee: Scott Green
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa
  • Recap, Game book

The Falcons would return to Atlanta for their home opener against the Rams. The Falcons would have a big first half, cruising to a 24-3 lead at halftime. St. Louis would try to come back, and outscored Atlanta 21-7 in the second half, but it was not enough as the Falcons held on for the win. With the win, the Falcons evened their record at 1-1.

Week 3: at Miami Dolphins
Week Three: Atlanta Falcons at Miami Dolphins – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 7 6 7323
Dolphins 0 10 10727

at Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

The Falcons would lead the entire game until the Dolphins went down to score the game-winning touchdown with 38 seconds remaining. The Falcons would try to go down to the end zone to pull out the win, but they would not, and the Falcons would lose 27-23 to the Miami Dolphins. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 1-2.

Week 4: vs. New England Patriots
Week Four: New England Patriots at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 0 10 31730
Falcons 3 7 01323

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

The Falcons would go back home for a Sunday Night Football game against the New England Patriots. The Falcons would put up a good fight, but they would lose a close shootout against the undefeated Patriots. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 1-3.

Week 5: vs. New York Jets
Week Five: New York Jets at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Jets 3 14 31030
Falcons 0 7 71428

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

The Falcons would go down the field to score with 1:54 remaining on a Matt Bryant field goal. However, the Jets would go down and kick a field goal as time expired to give the Jets the win. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 1-4 for the first time since 2007.

Week 7: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week Seven: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Buccaneers 0 10 7623
Falcons 7 17 0731

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

Game information

The Falcons would stay home for a divisional game against winless Tampa Bay. The Falcons would never trail during the game, and they would win this game 31-23. The Falcons cruised to a 24-10 lead at halftime, and held off a second half Tampa Bay rally for the victory.

With the win, the Falcons improved to 2-4 while sending Tampa Bay to 0-7.

Week 8: at Arizona Cardinals
Week Eight: Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 3 3 0713
Cardinals 0 21 3327

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: October 27
  • Game time: 4:25 p.m. EDT/1:25 p.m. Arizona time
  • Game weather: Played indoors (retractable roof closed)
  • Game attendance: 60,671
  • Referee: Mike Carey
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch and Molly McGrath
  • Recap, Game book
Game information

The Falcons would travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. The Falcons would struggle all game, committing 4 turnovers (all interceptions by Matt Ryan) as they lost 27-13. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 2-5.

Week 9: at Carolina Panthers
Week Nine: Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 0 10 0010
Panthers 7 7 31734

at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

The Falcons would go to Carolina for a showdown with the Panthers. The Falcons would once again struggle as they would commit 4 turnovers for the second straight week as they lost 34-10 to Carolina. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 2-6.

Week 10: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Week Ten: Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 3 20 3733
Falcons 0 3 7010

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

  • Date: November 10
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 70,309
  • Referee: Bill Vinovich
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch and Erin Andrews
  • Recap, Game book

In a rematch of last seasons divisional game, the Falcons went down easily this time to Seattle, losing 33-10. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 2-7.

Week 11: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week Eleven: Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 0 6 71528
Buccaneers 3 21 14341

at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Game information

The Falcons traveled to Tampa Bay for game 2 against the Bucs. The Falcons would suffer a mountain of embarrassment, as they lost 41-28 to the one-win Buccaneers. It was the most points the Buccaneers had scored in a single game all season, and the most points the Falcons had surrendered in a single game all season.

With the loss, the Falcons fell to 2-8.

Week 12: vs. New Orleans Saints
Week Twelve: New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Saints 7 7 3017
Falcons 7 6 0013

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

With the loss, coupled with wins by the Cardinals, 49ers and the Panthers, the Falcons were the first team this season to be eliminated from playoff contention.[2]

Week 13: at Buffalo Bills
Bills Toronto Series
Week Thirteen: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Falcons 7 10 77334
Bills 14 3 77031

at Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In this game, the Falcons would travel to Toronto for their game against the Bills, as it was the Bills Toronto game for the 2013 season. The Bills would lead 31-24 during the 4th quarter, but the Falcons would go down and score the game-tying touchdown with 1:28 remaining in regulation. In overtime, the Falcons would win on a Matt Bryant field goal to give the Falcons the win. With the win, the Falcons would end their 5-game losing streak and improve to 3-9.

Week 14: at Green Bay Packers
Week Fourteen: Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 0 21 0021
Packers 7 3 6622

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

  • Date: December 8
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: 9 °F (−13 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 77,550
  • Referee: Bill Leavy
  • TV announcers (Fox): Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick and Laura Okmin
  • Recap, Game book

The Falcons would travel to Green Bay for a game against the Packers. The Falcons had a lot of chances to try and get the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Packers would ultimately hold a 22-21 lead for the final 12:01 as the Falcons failed to score in the fourth quarter. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 3-10.

Week 15: vs. Washington Redskins
Week Fifteen: Washington Redskins at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Redskins 7 13 0626
Falcons 14 3 7327

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

  • Date: December 15
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 70,069
  • Referee: Gene Steratore
  • TV announcers (Fox): Sam Rosen, Heath Evans and Molly McGrath
  • Recap, Game book

The Falcons would go home for a battle against 3-10 Washington. The Falcons would win the game 27-26. The Redskins would go down to score with 18 seconds remaining, but mainly since they were 3-10, they tried to go for 2 and give them the lead and ultimately the win. However, the attempt was no good and the Falcons held on. With the win, the Falcons improved to 4-10.

Week 16: at San Francisco 49ers
Week Sixteen: Atlanta Falcons at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 0 10 01424
49ers 3 0 102134

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California

  • Date: December 23
  • Game time: 8:40 p.m. EST/5:40 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C), clear
  • Game attendance: 69,732
  • Referee: Walt Coleman
  • TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Lisa Salters
  • Recap, Game book

The Falcons would travel to San Francisco for a Monday Night game against the 49ers. The Falcons had a shot at getting the lead in the 4th quarter, but NaVorro Bowman would return an interception 89 yards for a touchdown to put the game away. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 4-11. The loss also allowed the 49ers to clinch a playoff berth.

Week 17: vs. Carolina Panthers
Week Seventeen: Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Panthers 0 14 7021
Falcons 7 3 7320

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

  • Date: December 29
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 70,427
  • Referee: John Parry
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch and Erin Andrews
  • Recap, Game book

With the loss, the Falcons finished their season 4-12 being swept by the Panthers for the first time since 1997.

Standings

Division
NFC South
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) Carolina Panthers 12 4 0 .750 5–1 9–3 366 241 W3
(6) New Orleans Saints 11 5 0 .688 5–1 9–3 414 304 W1
Atlanta Falcons 4 12 0 .250 1–5 3–9 353 443 L2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 12 0 .250 1–5 2–10 288 389 L3

Conference
NFC[3][4]
# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV STK
Division winners
1 Seattle Seahawks West 13 3 0 .813 4–2 10–2 .490 .445 W1
2 Carolina Panthers South 12 4 0 .750 5–1 9–3 .494 .451 W3
3 Philadelphia Eagles East 10 6 0 .625 4–2 9–3 .453 .391 W2
4 Green Bay Packers North 8 7 1 .531 3–2–1 6–5–1 .453 .371 W1
Wild cards
5 San Francisco 49ers West 12 4 0 .750 5–1 9–3 .494 .414 W6
6 New Orleans Saints South 11 5 0 .688 5–1 9–3 .516 .455 W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 Arizona Cardinals West 10 6 0 .625 2–4 6–6 .531 .444 L1
8[lower-alpha 1] Chicago Bears North 8 8 0 .500 2–4 4–8 .465 .469 L2
9 Dallas Cowboys East 8 8 0 .500 5–1 7–5 .484 .363 L1
10[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] New York Giants East 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 .520 .366 W2
11[lower-alpha 4] Detroit Lions North 7 9 0 .438 4–2 6–6 .457 .402 L4
12 St. Louis Rams West 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 .551 .446 L1
13 Minnesota Vikings North 5 10 1 .344 2–3–1 4–7–1 .512 .450 W1
14[lower-alpha 5] Atlanta Falcons South 4 12 0 .250 1–5 3–9 .553 .313 L2
15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers South 4 12 0 .250 1–5 2–10 .574 .391 L3
16 Washington Redskins East 3 13 0 .188 0–6 1–11 .516 .438 L8
Tiebreakers[lower-alpha 6]
  1. Chicago defeated Dallas head-to-head (Week 14, 45–28).
  2. The New York Giants and Detroit finished with a better conference record than St. Louis.
  3. The New York Giants defeated Detroit head-to-head (Week 16, 23–20 (OT)).
  4. Detroit finished with a better conference record than St. Louis.
  5. Atlanta finished with a better conference record than Tampa Bay.
  6. When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

References
  1. "2019 Atlanta Falcons Depth Chart - Ourlads.com". www.ourlads.com.
  2. "And the first team eliminated from NFL playoff contention is...?". November 26, 2013.
  3. "2013 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  4. "2013 NFL playoff picture". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
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