2016 Atlanta Falcons season

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 QB Matt Ryan (1st team); WR Julio Jones (1st team); EDGE Vic Beasley (1st team); C Alex Mack (2nd team);
Uniform
	← 2015; Falcons seasons; 2017 →;

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 change

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 change

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
2016 Atlanta Falcons draft
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 change

**2016 Atlanta Falcons staff**

	Front office Owner/Chairman – Arthur M. Blank President/CEO – Rich McKay general manager – Thomas Dimitroff Assistant general manager – Scott Pioli Director of Pro Personnel – Joel Collier Director, Football Operations – Nick Polk Director of College Scouting – Steve Sabo National Scout – Ruston Webster National Scout – Phil Emery Head coaches Head coach – Dan Quinn Assistant head coach/wide receivers – Raheem Morris Assistant to the head coach – Steve Scarnecchia Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Kyle Shanahan Quarterbacks – Matt LaFleur Running backs – Bobby Turner Tight ends – Wade Harman Offensive line – Chris Morgan Assistant offensive line – Keith Carter Offensive assistant – Mike LaFleur Offensive assistant – Mike McDaniel			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Richard Smith Defensive line – Bryan Cox Linebackers – Jeff Ulbrich Passing game coordinator – Jerome Henderson Senior defensive assistant/secondary – Marquand Manuel Defensive assistant/linebackers – Doug Mallory Defensive assistant/defensive backs – Chad Walker Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Keith Armstrong Assistant special teams – Eric Sutulovich Strength and conditioning Athletic performance manager – A.J. Neibel Head strength and conditioning – Jesse Ackerman Assistant strength and conditioning – Jonas Beauchemin

Final roster change

**2016 Atlanta Falcons final roster**

	Quarterbacks 2 Matt Ryan 8 Matt Schaub Running backs 26 Tevin Coleman 24 Devonta Freeman 28 Terron Ward Wide receivers 18 Taylor Gabriel 16 Justin Hardy 11 Julio Jones 19 Aldrick Robinson 12 Mohamed Sanu 14 Eric Weems 15 Nick Williams Tight ends 81 Austin Hooper 82 Joshua Perkins 86 D. J. Tialavea 80 Levine Toilolo		Offensive linemen 65 Chris Chester G 76 Tom Compton T 63 Ben Garland C 67 Andy Levitre G 51 Alex Mack C 70 Jake Matthews T 73 Ryan Schraeder T 71 Wes Schweitzer G Defensive linemen 95 Jonathan Babineaux DT 93 Dwight Freeney DE 77 Ra'Shede Hageman DT 94 Tyson Jackson DT 97 Grady Jarrett NT 50 Brooks Reed DE 91 Courtney Upshaw DT 92 Joe Vellano DT		Linebackers 44 Vic Beasley OLB 59 De'Vondre Campbell OLB 45 Deion Jones MLB 52 Josh Keyes LB 53 LaRoy Reynolds MLB 41 Philip Wheeler OLB 55 Paul Worrilow MLB Defensive backs 23 Robert Alford CB 37 Ricardo Allen FS 32 Jalen Collins CB 38 Dashon Goldson SS 29 C. J. Goodwin CB 22 Keanu Neal SS 20 Sharrod Neasman FS 30 Deji Olatoye CB 34 Brian Poole CB 33 Blidi Wreh-Wilson CB Special teams 5 Matt Bosher P 3 Matt Bryant K 47 Josh Harris LS		Reserve lists 99 Adrian Clayborn DE (IR) 87 Devin Fuller WR (IR) 36 Kemal Ishmael SS (IR) 25 Akeem King CB (IR) 74 Chris Mayes NT (IR) 90 Derrick Shelby DE (IR) 52 Tyler Starr OLB (IR) 83 Jacob Tamme TE (IR) 56 Sean Weatherspoon OLB (IR) 21 Desmond Trufant CB (IR) Practice squad 61 Carter Bykowski T 13 B. J. Daniels WR 66 Kevin Graf T 49 Darion Griswold TE 98 Martin Ifedi DE 64 Blake Muir G 35 Jhurell Pressley RB 4 Matt Simms QB 56 Jimmy Staten DT 38 Ryan White CB Rookies in italics 53 active, 11 inactive, 10 practice squad

Preseason change

Schedule change

Falcons players at training camp, July 2016.

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 change

Schedule change

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 change

Schedule change

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 change

Division change

NFC South
view talk edit	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 change

NFC v t e
#	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]
↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Detroit finished ahead of Tampa Bay for the No. 6 seed and qualified for the last playoff spot based on record vs. common opponents — Detroit's cumulative record against Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New Orleans was 3–2, while Tampa Bay's cumulative record against the same four teams was 2–3. ↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 New Orleans finished ahead of Philadelphia based on better record vs. conference opponents. ↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

References change

Other websites change

Official website

[1-1-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Detroit finished ahead of Tampa Bay for the No. 6 seed and qualified for the last playoff spot based on record vs. common opponents — Detroit's cumulative record against
Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New Orleans was 3–2, while Tampa Bay's cumulative record against the same four teams was 2–3.

[2-1-2] 2.0 ^2.1 New Orleans finished ahead of Philadelphia based on better record vs. conference opponents.

[TieBreaker-3] When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

[a]

[b]

[c]