2016 Atlanta Falcons season
| 2016 Atlanta Falcons season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Arthur Blank |
| Head coach | Dan Quinn |
| General manager | Thomas Dimitroff |
| Home field | Georgia Dome |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–5 |
| Division place | 1st NFC South |
| Playoff finish | Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Seahawks) 36–20 Won NFC Championship (vs. Packers) 44–21 Lost Super Bowl LI (vs. Patriots) 28–34 (OT) |
| Pro Bowlers | Selected but did not participate due to participation in Super Bowl LI: LB Vic Beasley K Matt Bryant RB Devonta Freeman WR Julio Jones C Alex Mack QB Matt Ryan |
| AP All-Pros | 4
|
| Uniform | |
The 2016 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 51st season in the National Football League (NFL) and the second under head coach Dan Quinn.
Free agents
| Position | Player | Tag | 2016 Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Ricardo Allen | Atlanta Falcons | ||
| DE | Kroy Biermann | UFA | Buffalo Bills | |
| G | Chris Chester | UFA | Atlanta Falcons | |
| DE | Adrian Clayborn | Atlanta Falcons | ||
| S | Charles Godfrey | Atlanta Falcons | ||
| PK | Shayne Graham | UFA | None | Retired |
| C | Gino Gradkowski | Carolina Panthers | ||
| T | Bryce Harris | UFA | Atlanta Falcons | |
| T | Jake Long | Minnesota Vikings | ||
| TE | Tony Moeaki | UFA | Chicago Bears | |
| T | Ryan Schraeder | Atlanta Falcons | ||
| LB | Nathan Stupar | New Orleans Saints | ||
| TE | D.J. Tialavea | Atlanta Falcons | ||
| LB | Philip Wheeler | UFA | Atlanta Falcons | |
| LB | Paul Worrilow | Atlanta Falcons |
Draft
| 2016 Atlanta Falcons draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Keanu Neal * | SS | Florida | |
| 2 | 50 | Deion Jones * | OLB | LSU | |
| 3 | 81 | Austin Hooper * | TE | Stanford | |
| 4 | 115 | De'Vondre Campbell | OLB | Minnesota | |
| 6 | 195 | Wes Schweitzer | G | San Jose State | |
| 7 | 238 | Devin Fuller | WR | UCLA | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Notes
- The Falcons did not select a player in the fifth round:
- The team forfeited their fifth-round selection as the punishment for piping artificial crowd noise into the Georgia Dome during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. If the Falcons receive multiple fifth-round selections, the team will forfeit its first fifth-round selection;
- The Falcons traded their sixth-round selection (No. 193) to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for guard Andy Levitre and a future undisclosed selection. They subsequently acquired Pick No. 195 from the New York Jets.
Staff
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
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Final roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Reserve lists
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Preseason
Schedule
The Falcons preseason opponents and schedule were announced on April 7, 2016.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 11 | Washington Redskins | W 23–17 | 1–0 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 2 | August 18 | at Cleveland Browns | W 24–13 | 2–0 | FirstEnergy Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | August 11 | at Miami Dolphins | L 6–17 | 2–1 | Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida) | Recap |
| 4 | September 1 | Jacksonville Jaguars | W 17–15 | 3–1 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 24–31 | 0–1 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 2 | September 18 | at Oakland Raiders | W 35–28 | 1–1 | Oakland Alameda Coliseum | Recap |
| 3 | September 26 | at New Orleans Saints | W 45–32 | 2–1 | Mercedes-Benz Superdome | Recap |
| 4 | October 2 | Carolina Panthers | W 48–33 | 3–1 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 5 | October 9 | at Denver Broncos | W 23–16 | 4–1 | Sports Authority Field at Mile High | Recap |
| 6 | October 16 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 24–26 | 4–2 | CenturyLink Field | Recap |
| 7 | October 23 | San Diego Chargers | L 30–33 (OT) | 4–3 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 8 | October 30 | Green Bay Packers | W 33–32 | 5–3 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 9 | November 3 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 43–28 | 6–3 | Raymond James Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 13 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 15–24 | 6–4 | Lincoln Financial Field | Recap |
| 11 | Bye | |||||
| 12 | November 27 | Arizona Cardinals | W 38–19 | 7–4 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 13 | December 4 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 28–29 | 7–5 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 14 | December 11 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 42–14 | 8–5 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| 15 | December 18 | San Francisco 49ers | W 41–13 | 9–5 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
| 16 | December 24 | at Carolina Panthers | W 33–16 | 10–5 | Bank of America Stadium | Recap |
| 17 | January 1 | New Orleans Saints | W 38–32 | 11–5 | Georgia Dome | Recap |
Postseason
Schedule
| Playoff round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card | First-round bye | |||||||
| Divisional | January 14, 2017 | Seattle Seahawks (3) | W 36–20 | 1–0 | Georgia Dome | Recap | ||
| NFC Championship | January 22, 2017 | Green Bay Packers (4) | W 44–21 | 2–0 | Georgia Dome | Recap | ||
| Super Bowl LI | February 5, 2017 | vs. New England Patriots (A1) | L 28–34 (OT) | 2–1 | NRG Stadium | Recap | ||
Standings
Division
| NFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| (2) Atlanta Falcons | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 540 | 406 | W4 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 354 | 369 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2–4 | 6–6 | 469 | 454 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–5 | 5–7 | 369 | 402 | L2 |
Conference
| # | Team | Division | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | SOS | SOV | STK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division leaders | |||||||||||
| 1 | Dallas Cowboys | East | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 3–3 | 9–3 | .471 | .440 | L1 |
| 2 | Atlanta Falcons | South | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–1 | 9–3 | .480 | .452 | W4 |
| 3 | Seattle Seahawks | West | 10 | 5 | 1 | .656 | 3–2–1 | 6–5–1 | .441 | .425 | W1 |
| 4 | Green Bay Packers | North | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 5–1 | 8–4 | .508 | .453 | W6 |
| Wild Cards | |||||||||||
| 5 | New York Giants | East | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 8–4 | .486 | .455 | W1 |
| 6[a] | Detroit Lions | North | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 7–5 | .475 | .392 | L3 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason | |||||||||||
| 7[a] | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | South | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–2 | 7–5 | .492 | .434 | W1 |
| 8 | Washington Redskins | East | 8 | 7 | 1 | .531 | 3–3 | 6–6 | .516 | .430 | L1 |
| 9 | Minnesota Vikings | North | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2–4 | 5–7 | .492 | .457 | W1 |
| 10 | Arizona Cardinals | West | 7 | 8 | 1 | .469 | 4–1–1 | 6–5–1 | .463 | .366 | W2 |
| 11[b] | New Orleans Saints | South | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2–4 | 6–6 | .523 | .393 | L1 |
| 12[b] | Philadelphia Eagles | East | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2–4 | 5–7 | .559 | .518 | W2 |
| 13 | Carolina Panthers | South | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–5 | 5–7 | .518 | .354 | L2 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Rams | West | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–4 | 3–9 | .504 | .500 | L7 |
| 15 | Chicago Bears | North | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 2–4 | 3–9 | .521 | .396 | L4 |
| 16 | San Francisco 49ers | West | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 2–4 | 2–10 | .504 | .250 | L1 |
| Tiebreakers[c] | |||||||||||
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