Michael Vick's great magic trick carried the Falcons past the Panthers and into the playoffs On the evening of Saturday, Dec. Tabeek: Football lost a giant in Bill Fralic The former Falcon and Pitt star was so much more than just a great football player. An oral history: How the Falcons marched into New Orleans and knocked the Saints out of the playoffs This is a story about how the Atlanta Falcons marched into New Orleans and left with a victory, knocking their most hated rival out of the playoffs in their only postseason meeting.
The night Devin Hester stole the show and the Falcons beat the Bucs so badly that it left 'a scar' The Falcons knocked the Bucs to the mat so swiftly and emphatically, they could only watch helplessly as Atlanta rolled to the most lopsided victory in the history of this rivalry on national television. The Falcons-Saints rivalry began with pure contempt and brutality, and not much has changed in 50 years The first game between Atlanta and New Orleans was contentious, physical and highly anticipated.
The I Divide: When the Falcons and Panthers first met in , everything changed The close proximity between the two cities and an underlying emotional connection between the two fan bases jump-started the Falcons-Panthers rivalry. Download iOS Download Android. Samuel L. Jackson admitted his love for the Atlanta Falcons this offseason, showing off his enthusiasm for the upcoming year with a television promo for the Falcons. The commercial's message, "Rise Up," has stuck as the unofficial slogan for the Falcons.
What other NFL franchise is backed by one of the most intensely respected celebrities in the world? Not stopping there, the Falcons have a few more followers. Sevendust recently recorded a music video solely subject of Atlanta Falcons football.
Also, the Falcons have had numerous songs made for them by random artists around the area, all of which are constantly blasting from tailgates before games. Atlanta is currently , which is tied with a handful of teams for first place in the NFL standings. The Falcons are undefeated at home—a trend that Clayton insists will lead them to a season and a Super Bowl berth. The Atlanta Falcons could be the most likable NFL team, if a poll ever existed for that sort of thing. They have never been a thorn in anyone's side.
But, the Atlanta Falcons don't have big headed players on their roster. Tony Gonzalez is a class act and serves as a post-game interview template. Ovie Mughelli might be the nicest guy you will ever meet not named Warrick Dunn. Brian Finneran stands in as the tenured team leader, having played with Atlanta since Michael Turner's middle name is modest, Roddy White follows the thumper rule, even as Atlanta's most vocal player, and Matt Ryan might as well wear "Aw, Shucks" on his jersey nameplate.
Not to mention most fans of other teams likely still don't know the Falcons head coach's name or what he looks like. Atlanta never makes the news for anything other than winning. Considering what they had to go through in , it's been more than a blessing. This team doesn't make excuses. They don't have locker room disputes that make headlines. They have each other's backs. And there isn't one big name player on their defense.
But they win anyways. Their most exciting defensive player, Brent Grimes, stands around 5'7". He went to Shippensburg College. Does anyone know where that is? The NFL pushes for teams to be constantly involved in community service, though no team does it better than the Falcons. Ovie Mughelli leads the charge as the Falcons most active leader in schools and charities.
Ovie Mughelli and Curtis Lofton have even been up for service awards. The team has recently been featured in a T. In , under recently acquired head coach Dan Reeves , quarterback Chris Chandler and running back Jamal Anderson led the "Dirty Bird" Falcons to their greatest season to date.
On November 8, they won 41—10 over the New England Patriots , ending a streak of 22 losses at cold-weather sites. The team finished with a franchise best 14—2 regular season record and the NFC West division championship. In the NFL Draft , the Falcons orchestrated a trade with the San Diego Chargers , acquiring the first overall pick which was used on quarterback Michael Vick in exchange for wide receiver Tim Dwight and the fifth overall pick used on running back LaDainian Tomlinson.
Michael Vick saw minimal playing time in , playing backup and learning the system under starting QB Chris Chandler. Vick was the named starting quarterback for the season, their first in the more geographically-accurate NFC South. Setting many records and supplying the media with numerous highlights for the season, including rushing for yards in an overtime win at Minnesota, the highest single-game rushing total for an NFL quarterback ever, Vick led the Falcons to the playoffs.
During their ensuing playoff run, the Falcons were the first team in history to claim a playoff win over the Green Bay Packers 27—7 in Lambeau Field. Their season ended with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles 20—6 in the divisional playoffs.
On March 19, , the Falcons presented their new logo. It is also representative of the evolution and direction of our team. After losing 7 straight games, the decision was made to release head coach Dan Reeves. Wade Phillips acted as interim coach for the final 3 games. Although the Falcons won 3 of their last 4 games after the return of Michael Vick, they ended up with a dismal 5—11 record that year.
New head coach Jim L. Mora was hired and Michael Vick returned for the full season , when the Falcons went 11—5, winning their third division title and earn a first-round bye into the playoffs.
In the divisional playoffs, the Falcons defeated the St. The Falcons fell short again of achieving back-to-back winning seasons in , going 8—8. In , Michael Vick became the first quarterback in league history to rush for more than 1, yards in a season, with 1, After finishing the season 7—9, however, coach Jim Mora was dismissed and Bobby Petrino, the University of Louisville's football coach, replaced him.
Before the , Vick was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after pleading guilty to charges involving dog fighting in the state of Virginia. On December 10, , Vick received a month prison sentence and was officially cut from the Atlanta roster.
In the beginning of the season, the Falcons were forced to start Joey Harrington at quarterback. On December 11, 13 games into his first NFL season as head coach, Bobby Petrino resigned without notice to coach at the University of Arkansas , leaving the beleaguered players only a note in the locker room.
Secondary Coach Emmitt Thomas was named interim coach for the final three games of on December The Falcons ended the year with a dismal 4—12 record. He started all 16 games in his rookie season and was named the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year.
The Falcons finished the regular season with a record of 11—5. The Atlanta Falcons hold the record among all major American sports leagues for the longest streak of seasons without consecutive winning seasons, a streak that lasted from — Though they failed to make the playoffs, the streak ended in when the Falcons defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20—10 in the final game of the season to improve their record to 9—7. In , with a regular season record of 13—3, their best regular season record since the Super Bowl season, the Falcons secured a third straight winning season, their fourth overall divisional title, and the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs; however, the Falcons were overpowered by the eventual Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs 48— In exchange, the Falcons gave up their first, second and fourth round draft picks in , and their first and fourth draft picks in When the team debuted in , the Falcons wore red helmets with a black falcon crest logo.
In the center of the helmet was a center black stripe surrounded by 2 gold stripes and 2 white stripes, These colors represented the two college rival schools in the state of Georgia; rival schools Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets White and Gold and the Georgia Bulldogs Red and Black Although the gold was later taken out, the white remains to this day. They wore white pants and either black or white jerseys. At first, the falcon crest logo was also put on the jersey sleeves, but it was replaced by a red and white stripe pattern four years later.
They switched from black to red jerseys in , and the club began to wear silver pants in A prototype white helmet was developed for the team prior to the season but was never worn. In , the uniform design changed to black helmets, silver pants, and either black or white jerseys. The numbers on the white jerseys were black, but were changed to red in Both the logo and uniforms changed in The logo was redesigned with red and silver accents to depict a more powerful, aggressive falcon, which now more closely resembles the capital letter F.
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