1985 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1985 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise’s 20th season in the National Football League (NFL). They finished last in the NFC West with a record of four wins and twelve losses.

1985 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
General manager	Tom Braatz
Head coach	Dan Henning
Home stadium	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	1 RB Gerald Riggs
← 1984 Falcons seasons 1986 →

This season marked the first time since 1972 that the Falcons played the Kansas City Chiefs, and merely the second in team history.^[1] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season. They were provisionally scheduled to play in 1976, but that game was scrapped to make room for games against the newly formed Buccaneers and Seahawks,^[2] and actually scheduled to play in 1982, but that game was cancelled by a player's strike.^[3]

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1985 NFL draft

1985 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Bill Fralic *	Guard	Pittsburgh
2	45	Mike Gann	Defensive end	Notre Dame
4	89	Emile Harry	Wide receiver	Stanford
6	152	Reggie Pleasant	Defensive back	Clemson
8	201	Ashley Lee	Defensive back	Virginia Tech
8	215	Ronnie Washington	Linebacker	Northeast Louisiana
9	228	Micah Moon	Linebacker	North Carolina
10	257	Brent Martin	Center	Stanford
11	284	John Ayres	Defensive back	Illinois
12	313	Ken Whisenhunt	Tight end	Georgia Tech
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[4]

Personnel

Staff

1985 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Rankin M. Smith, Jr. Executive vice president/chief operating officer – Eddie LeBaron General manager – Tom Braatz Head coaches Head coach – Dan Henning Offensive coaches Running backs – Sam Elliott Receivers – Bob Harrison Offensive line – Larry Beightol Tight ends/h-backs – Garry Puetz

Defensive coaches Assistant head coach/defensive line – Dan Sekanovich Defensive coordinator – John Marshall Linebackers – Bobby Jackson Secondary – Jack Stanton Defensive assistant – Joe Madden Special teams coaches Special teams – Ted Fritsch Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – George Dostal

Roster

1985 Atlanta Falcons roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 David Archer  8 Bob Holly Running backs (RB) 42 Gerald Riggs 29 Sylvester Stamps 32 Tim Tyrrell 24 Joe Washington Wide receivers (WR) 85 Anthony Allen 82 Stacey Bailey 89 Charlie Brown 81 Billy "White Shoes" Johnson Tight ends (TE) 87 Cliff Benson 88 Arthur Cox 49 Allama Matthews 45 Ken Whisenhunt

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Bill Fralic G 71 Glen Howe T 63 Jeff Kiewel G 62 Brett Miller T 55 Wayne Radloff C 67 Eric Sanders T 66 Chuck Thomas C 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen (DL) 69 Dan Benish DT 77 Rick Bryan DE 76 Mike Gann DE 70 Willard Goff DT 74 Mike Pitts DT 72 Andrew Provence DE

Linebackers (LB) 53 Thomas Benson MLB 50 Buddy Curry MLB 58 David Frye OLB 59 John Rade OLB 56 Al Richardson OLB 96 Johnny Taylor OLB 92 Ronnie Washington MLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Bobby Butler CB 25 Scott Case SS 20 Wendell Cason CB 30 David Croudip CB 37 Kenny Johnson SS 27 Tom Pridemore FS 22 Sean Thomas FS 36 Dan Wagoner CB Special teams (ST)  1 Ralph Giacomarro P 18 Mick Luckhurst K

Reserve 39 Cliff Austin RB (IR) 38 John Ayres CB (IR) 26 James Britt CB (IR)  3 Rick Donnelly P (IR) 33 Tiger Greene S (IR) 78 Mike Kenn T (IR) 93 Brent Martin C (IR) 52 Rydell Melancon LB (IR) 40 Eddie Meyers RB (Military) 64 Joe Pellegrini G (IR) 61 John Scully G (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 8	Detroit Lions	L 27–28	0–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	37,785	Recap
2	September 15	at San Francisco 49ers	L 16–35	0–2	Candlestick Park	58,923	Recap
3	September 22	Denver Broncos	L 28–44	0–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	37,903	Recap
4	September 29	at Los Angeles Rams	L 6–17	0–4	Anaheim Stadium	49,870	Recap
5	October 6	San Francisco 49ers	L 17–38	0–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	44,740	Recap
6	October 13	at Seattle Seahawks	L 26–30	0–6	Kingdome	60,430	Recap
7	October 20	New Orleans Saints	W 31–24	1–6	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	44,784	Recap
8	October 27	at Dallas Cowboys	L 10–24	1–7	Texas Stadium	57,941	Recap
9	November 3	Washington Redskins	L 10–44	1–8	Atlanta–Fulton County Coliseum	42,209	Recap
10	November 10	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–23	1–9	Veterans Stadium	63,694	Recap
11	November 17	Los Angeles Rams	W 30–14	2–9	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	29,960	Recap
12	November 24	at Chicago Bears	L 0–36	2–10	Soldier Field	61,769	Recap
13	December 1	Los Angeles Raiders	L 24–43	2–11	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	20,858	Recap
14	December 8	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 10–38	2–12	Arrowhead Stadium	18,199	Recap
15	December 15	Minnesota Vikings	W 14–13	3–12	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	14,167	Recap
16	December 22	at New Orleans Saints	W 16–10	4–12	Louisiana Superdome	37,717	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 10

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Falcons	0	0	0	17	0	17
• Eagles	0	14	3	0	6	23

• Date: November 10
• Location: Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
• Game start: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), wind 16 mph (26 km/h)
• Referee: Chuck Heberling

Scoring summary

2		PHI	Earnest Jackson 8 yard run (Paul McFadden kick)	Eagles 7–0
2		PHI	Ron Jaworski 1 yard run (Paul McFadden kick)	Eagles 14–0
3		PHI	Paul McFadden 30 yard field goal	Eagles 17–0
4		ATL	Joe Washington 18 yard pass from David Archer (Mick Luckhurst kick)	Eagles 17–7
4		ATL	Gerald Riggs 1 yard run (Mick Luckhurst kick)	Eagles 17–14
4		ATL	Mick Luckhurst 27 yard field goal	Tie 17–17
OT		PHI	Mike Quick 99 yard pass from Ron Jaworski	Eagles 23–17

^[5]

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams(2)	11	5	0	.688	3–3	8–4	340	277	L1
San Francisco 49ers(5)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	7–5	411	263	W2
New Orleans Saints	5	11	0	.313	2–4	5–7	294	401	L3
Atlanta Falcons	4	12	0	.250	3–3	4–8	282	452	W2

Awards and records

• Bill Fralic, Sports Illustrated NFL Rookie of the Year.^[6]