1986 Atlanta Falcons season

21st season in franchise history, collapse after 4-0 start August 2023 March 2026 Atlanta Falcons 1986 7–8–1 3rd NFC West Dan Henning Fulton County Stadium Did not qualify 2 G Bill Fralic RB Gerald Riggs Falcons seasons The 1986 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 21st season in the National Football League (NFL). It began with moderate expectations.Picking the Falcons to go 9–7, starting with a win over the Saints Atlanta Journal-Constitution 7 Sep 1986 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.Falcons hoping for fast start in New Orleans opener Atlanta Journal-Constitution 7 Sep 1986 Atlanta entered the season led by, among others, Gerald Riggs,Riggs makes backfield whole again Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5 Sep 1986 Scott Case, Bill Fralic and Jeff Van Note. David Archer was the starting quarterback heading into the season.Archer reports bruised right shoulder feeling 'fair' Atlanta Journal-Constitution 3 Sep 1986 The Falcons won their first 4 games, but their season was effectively ruined by going 3–8–1 afterwards. Offseason NFL draft 1986 NFL draft 1986 Atlanta Falcons 1 2 Tony Casillas Defensive tackle Oklahoma yes 1 17 Tim Green Linebacker Syracuse yes 6 154 Floyd Dixon Wide receiver Stephen F. Austin yes 6 159 Keith Williams Wide receiver Missouri State yes 8 197 Kevin Hudgens Defensive end Idaho State 9 224 Kevin Starks Tight end Minnesota 10 252 Tony Baker Running back East Carolina yes 11 280 Chris Hegg Quarterback Truman State 12 308 Steve Griffin Wide receiver Purdue no no https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/atl/1986_draft.htm 1986 Atlanta Falcons Draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com December 15, 2013 Personnel Staff 1986 Atlanta Falcons 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 coach – Dan Henning Running backs – Sam Elliott Receivers – Bob Harrison Tight ends – Bobby Jackson Offensive line – Larry Beightol Quality control – Steve Crosby Defensive coordinator – Marion Campbell Defensive line – Tommy Brasher Linebackers – Chuck Clausen Secondary – Fred Bruney Special teams – Ted Fritsch Strength and conditioning – George Dostal Roster 1986 Atlanta Falcons 10 Scott Campbell American football 14 Turk Schonert 31 William Andrews American football 39 Cliff Austin 42 Gerald Riggs 82 Stacey Bailey 89 Charlie Brown wide receiver, born 1958 86 Floyd Dixon American football y 81 Billy "White Shoes" Johnson 83 Aubrey Matthews 35 Keith Williams running back y 88 Arthur Cox American football 87 Ron Middleton American football y 45 Ken Whisenhunt 73 Jamie Dukes y G/C 79 Bill Fralic G 67 Billy Hinson G 71 Glen Howe T 78 Mike Kenn T 64 Joe Pellegrini G 55 Wayne Radloff C 57 Jeff Van Note C 77 Rick Bryan DE 75 Tony Casillas y NT 76 Mike Gann DE 68 Dennis Harrison DE 74 Mike Pitts DE 72 Andrew Provence NT 52 Aaron Brown linebacker ILB 56 Joe Costello American football OLB 50 Buddy Curry ILB 99 Tim Green y ILB 51 Reggie Wilkes OLB 54 Joel Williams linebacker OLB 26 James Britt American football CB 25 Scott Case American football CB 20 Wendell Cason SS 28 Bret Clark FS 30 David Croudip CB 34 Robert Moore American football SS 21 Jimmy Turner American football CB 22 Dennis Woodberry CB  3 Rick Donnelly P  6 Ali Haji-Sheikh K 85 Anthony Allen wide receiver WR IR 16 David Archer quarterback QB IR -- Dave Burnette T NF-Inj. 23 Bobby Butler American football CB IR 46 Herm Edwards CB (Retired) 10px 84 Joey Jones American football WR IR 63 Jeff Kiewel G IR 18 Mick Luckhurst K IR 40 Eddie Meyers RB (Military) 10px 62 Brett Miller American football T IR 59 John Rade LB IR 61 John Scully American football G IR 80 Dan Sharp TE IR 29 Sylvester Stamps RB IR 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 1986 New Orleans Saints season Atlanta Falcons 1986 2; text-align:center collapsed Atlanta Falcons (0–0) at New Orleans Saints (0–0) September 7 Falcons 7 7 7 10 Saints 0 3 0 7 Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana 67,950 Indoors (dome) Tom Dooley CBS Dick Stockton, Dan Dierdorf The Football Database Falcons David Archer13/16, 207 Yds, 2 TD, INT Cliff Austin27 Rush, 104 Yds, TD Charlie Brown7 Rec, 119 Yds, TD Saints Bobby Hebert13/33, 115 Yds, 2 INT Dalton Hilliard15 Rush, 51 Yds, TD Eugene Goodlow4 Rec, 58 Yds ATL NO collapsed 1 10:17 Falcons RecTD Brown Archer 17 good Luckhurst run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 0 2 7:43 Falcons RushTD Austin 1 good Luckhurst run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 0 2 1:01 Saints FG 47 Andersen 14 3 3 2:21 Falcons RushTD Riggs 1 good Luckhurst run/pass good/failed/incomplete 21 3 4 10:12 Falcons RecTD Anthony Allen Archer 19 good Luckhurst run/pass good/failed/incomplete 28 3 4 3:30 Falcons FG 32 Luckhurst 31 3 4 0:08 Saints RushTD Hilliard 1 good Andersen run/pass good/failed/incomplete 10 31 31 10 Standings 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 External links 1986 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com Category:Atlanta Falcons seasons Atlanta Atlanta