The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons were founded on June 30, 1965, with the NFL awarding Atlanta a football team to prevent the franchise from joining the rival American Football League. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle granted ownership of the team to businessman Rankin Smith, beginning play in the 1966 season as an expansion team. The name "Falcons" was suggested by high school teacher Julia Elliott through a 1965 contest. Smith remained as the owner of the Falcons until his death in 1997, with ownership of the team then transferring to his son Taylor. Taylor Smith reached a preliminary agreement with businessman Arthur Blank to purchase the team on December 6, 2001. The sale was finalized on February 2, 2002, following a unanimous vote by NFL owners. Since the team's inception, it has been based in Atlanta, playing their home games at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium since 2017. They previously played home games at the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (1966–1991) and the Georgia Dome (1992–2016). The Falcons began play in the Eastern Conference of the NFL, before moving to the Coastal division in the Western Conference. Following the 1970 NFL realignment, the team moved to the NFC West division. The team moved for the third and final time to the NFC South division following the 2002 NFL realignment.
Over their 59 seasons in the NFL, the Falcons have accumulated a record of 390 wins, 512 losses, and 6 ties. A mark of the franchise's inconsistency is that they did not have consecutive seasons with better than .500 records until 2008 and 2009. They have also made the playoffs fourteen times and have the seventh-worst playoff record in terms of win-loss percentage with 10 wins and 14 losses. The Falcons appeared in two Super Bowl championships—Super Bowl XXXIII and Super Bowl LI—losing to the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, respectively. The Falcons have won the NFC Championship twice and a division title six times, winning the NFC West twice (1978 and 1998) and the NFC South four times (2004, 2010, 2012 and 2016). The team currently has seventeen winning seasons, four tied seasons, and thirty-eight losing seasons.
Seasons + KeySuper Bowl champions *Conference champions #Division champions Wild Card berth ^
+ SeasonTeamLeagueConferenceDivisionRegular seasonPostseason resultsAwardsHead coachFinish 1966NFLEastern—7th3110 Tommy Nobis ()Norb Hecker 1967NFLWesternCoastal4th1121 1968NFLWesternCoastal4th2120Claude Humphrey ()Norb Hecker () Norm Van Brocklin () 1969NFLWesternCoastal3rd680 Norm Van Brocklin 1970NFLNFCWest3rd482 1971NFLNFCWest3rd761 1972NFLNFCWest2nd770 1973NFLNFCWest2nd950 1974NFLNFCWest4th3110 Norm Van Brocklin ()Marion Campbell () 1975NFLNFCWest3rd4100 Marion Campbell 1976NFLNFCWest4th4100 Marion Campbell ()Pat Peppler () 1977NFLNFCWest2nd770 Leeman Bennett 1978NFLNFCWest2nd^970Won Wild Card playoffs (Eagles) 14–13Lost Divisional playoffs (at Cowboys) 20–27 1979NFLNFCWest3rd6100 1980NFLNFCWest1st1240Lost Divisional playoffs (Cowboys) 27–30Buddy Curry () Al Richardson 1981NFLNFCWest2nd790 1982NFLNFC—5th^540Lost First Round playoffs (at Vikings) 24–30 1983NFLNFCWest4th790 Dan Henning 1984NFLNFCWest4th4120 1985NFLNFCWest4th4120 1986NFLNFCWest3rd781 1987NFLNFCWest4th3120 Marion Campbell 1988NFLNFCWest4th5110 1989NFLNFCWest4th3130 Marion Campbell ()Jim Hanifan () 1990NFLNFCWest4th5110 Jerry Glanville 1991NFLNFCWest2nd^1060Won Wild Card playoffs (at Saints) 27–20Lost Divisional playoffs (at Redskins) 7–24 1992NFLNFCWest3rd6100 1993NFLNFCWest3rd6100 1994NFLNFCWest3rd790 June Jones 1995NFLNFCWest2nd^970Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Packers) 20–37 1996NFLNFCWest4th3130 1997NFLNFCWest3rd790 Dan Reeves 1998NFLNFC#West1st1420Won Divisional playoffs (49ers) 20–18Won NFC Championship (at Vikings) 30–27 (OT)Lost Super Bowl XXXIII (vs. Broncos) 19–34Dan Reeves () 1999NFLNFCWest3rd5110 2000NFLNFCWest5th4120 2001NFLNFCWest4th790 2002NFLNFCSouth2nd^961Won Wild Card playoffs (at Packers) 27–7Lost Divisional playoffs (at Eagles) 6–20 2003NFLNFCSouth4th5110 Dan Reeves ()Wade Phillips () 2004NFLNFCSouth1st1150Won Divisional playoffs (Rams) 47–17Lost NFC Championship (at Eagles) 10–27Jim L. Mora 2005NFLNFCSouth3rd880 2006NFLNFCSouth3rd790 20072007NFLNFCSouth4th4120 Bobby Petrino ()Emmitt Thomas () 2008NFLNFCSouth2nd^1150Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Cardinals) 24–30Matt Ryan ()Mike Smith ()Thomas Dimitroff (EOY)Mike Smith20092009NFLNFCSouth2nd970 20102010NFLNFCSouth1st1330Lost Divisional playoffs (Packers) 21–48Thomas Dimitroff (EOY)20112011NFLNFCSouth2nd^1060Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Giants) 2–2420122012NFLNFCSouth1st1330Won Divisional playoffs (Seahawks) 30–28Lost NFC Championship (49ers) 24–2820132013NFLNFCSouth3rd4120 20142014NFLNFCSouth3rd610020152015NFLNFCSouth2nd880Dan Quinn20162016NFLNFC#South1st1150Won Divisional playoffs (Seahawks) 36–20Won NFC Championship (Packers) 44–21Lost Super Bowl LI (vs. Patriots) 28–34 (OT)Matt Ryan (), ()20172017NFLNFCSouth3rd^1060Won Wild Card playoffs (at Rams) 26–13Lost Divisional playoffs (at Eagles) 10–1520182018NFLNFCSouth2nd79020192019NFLNFCSouth2nd79020202020NFLNFCSouth4th4120Dan Quinn ()Raheem Morris ()20212021NFLNFCSouth3rd7100Arthur Smith20222022NFLNFCSouth4th710020232023NFLNFCSouth3rd710020242024NFLNFCSouth2nd890Raheem Morris20252025NFLNFCSouth3rd890Totals4065216All-time regular season record (1966–2025)1014—All-time postseason record (1966–2025)4165356All-time regular & postseason record (1966–2025)
See also History of the Atlanta Falcons Notes
References