The Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 32nd season in the National Football League (NFL). It was their first season with new head coach Dan Reeves, who had been hired on January 21.
For the season, they added a new logo and added the numerals and socks on the road jerseys are switched from black to red.
The season was marked with tragedy, as team owner Rankin Smith died on October 26, 1997. The following week, the team wore a commemorative patch on their jerseys for the remainder of the season. The season was the last time Falcons started 0–5 until 2020.
Offseason
NFL draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 August 31 at Detroit Lions L 17–28 0–1 Pontiac Silverdome Recap 2 September 7 Carolina Panthers L 6–9 0–2 Georgia Dome Recap 3 September 14 Oakland Raiders L 31–36 0–3 Georgia DomeRecap 4 September 21 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–34 0–4 3Com Park Recap 5 September 28 Denver Broncos L 21–29 0–5 Georgia Dome Recap 6 Bye 7 October 12 at New Orleans Saints W 23–17 1–5 Louisiana Superdome Recap 8 October 19 San Francisco 49ers L 28–35 1–6 Georgia Dome Recap 9 October 26 at Carolina Panthers L 12–21 1–7 Ericsson StadiumRecap 10 November 2 St. Louis Rams W 34–31 2–7 Georgia Dome Recap 11 November 9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–31 2–8 Georgia Dome Recap 12 November 16 at St. Louis Rams W 27–21 3–8 Trans World Dome Recap 13 November 23 New Orleans Saints W 20–3 4–8 Georgia Dome Recap 14 November 30 at Seattle Seahawks W 24–17 5–8 Kingdome Recap 15 December 7 at San Diego Chargers W 14–3 6–8 Qualcomm Stadium Recap 16 December 14 Philadelphia Eagles W 20–17 7–8 Georgia Dome Recap 17 December 21 at Arizona Cardinals L 26–29 7–9 Sun Devil Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Season summary
Week 7 at Saints
Standings
NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 290
References
External links 1997 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com