A 10-yard fourth-down scramble from Cam Newton led to a brutal head-to-head collision and an ejection for Falcons safety Damontae Kazee in the second quarter of today’s Panthers-Falcons game. Newton slid down at the end of his run and took a straight-on helmet-to-helmet hit from the Falcons defender while already on…
The Falcons began the 2018 season the same way they ended 2017: an empty possession in the red zone in the waning seconds of a close loss to the Eagles, in the same end zone in the same stadium in Philly. It was the same symptom of the same problem that plagued their offense for much of last year—only it somehow…
The NFL’s confusing new helmet rule drew plenty of deserved attention and criticism during the preseason, but for all the plays and games it is going to muddy up, it is not the worst rule change implemented by the NFL this season. That honor belongs to the rule that heavily penalizes defensive players for landing on…
Some people are fans of the Atlanta Falcons. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Atlanta Falcons. This 2018 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here.
Current Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator and former USC head coach Steve Sarkisian has lost his $30 million lawsuit against his old employer, which he filed in December 2015 after USC fired him for the public problems caused by his alcoholism. While coaching at USC, Sarkisian got drunk and yelled profanities at…
In the month since losing starting quarterback and MVP candidate Carson Wentz, the Philadelphia Eagles have played a skittish backup at quarterback behind a spotty offensive line, at the exact time that their highly ranked defense began collapsing. The franchise hadn’t won a playoff game since 2009, or even played in…
For much of this season, it’s been difficult to take the Atlanta Falcons seriously. After a 3-0 start, they lost back-to-back home games to the Bills and Dolphins before getting thumped by the Patriots, by which time the hangover from 28-3 had reached the coffee-and-aspirin phase. Their offense, even with all that…
If you happened to choose the ESPN “Cool Room” feed of last night’s national championship game—among your 19 other choices—you may have noticed the hosts dancing around discussing a conversation taking place between Donald Trump and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank. That video wasn’t aired on the broadcast; a…
Most of you likely recall last year’s Super Bowl between Atlanta and New England, in which the Falcons somehow blew a 28-3 lead and let Tom Brady claim yet another championship. But many of you may also be shocked to hear that the Falcons weren’t immediately banned from all future postseasons after that disturbing…
Julio Jones is easily one of the best receivers in the NFL (I’d say the best but then someone would rightfully point out Antonio Brown exists and then we’d have a long fruitless debate about it), but in Thursday’s game, Jones found himself on the other side of the ball. After Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore picked…
There was a weird moment during last night’s game between the Saints and Falcons, when Saints head coach Sean Payton did some premature gloating. With his team up 17-10 and 12:30 left to play, Payton gave the “Choke!” sign to Falcons running back Devonta Freeman after Freeman had run for no gain near the Saints’…
Atlanta overcame three Matt Ryan interceptions to come back and beat New Orleans, thanks to Saints quarterback Drew Brees throwing his own awful interception with his team in game-tying field goal range followed by Sean Payton drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that prevented his team from ever getting the…
The Atlanta Falcons’ stadium hosted the SEC championship game Saturday night. A crew spent all night repainting the field in order to have it ready for today’s Vikings-Falcons game. They did a nice job, with one exception: The hashmarks were in the wrong spot.
Third-and-one in the first half isn’t usually the time to reach deep into the bag of tricks, but the Atlanta Falcons clearly trust wideout Mohamed Sanu to get them all the yards they need, and then some. With the ball at midfield, they had Sanu take a shotgun snap and fire a pass deep down the field to a…
Boy, for what was ultimately a three-point game that came down to Blair Walsh facing a 52-yarder...it sure would have been nice to have three more points, wouldn’t it?
It took only 25 years for the Georgia Dome to be deemed obsolete and replaced, and another 15 seconds for the whole thing to come down.
The fog that rolled in around halftime of the Patriots’ 23-7 win over the Falcons in Foxboro might have been something of a mercy for viewers, unless you’re a weirdo who was really into seeing Atlanta run some of the most questionable play-calling since ... well, since the last time these two teams met.
Despite eking out a win against Tennessee last weekend, Jay Cutler looked like he had hit rock bottom. After a loss to the Jets and then a shutout to the Saints, Cutler put up an even worse statline against the Titans—12-for-26 for 92 yards, with a pick and, at the very least, one touchdown. Cutler was booed by his…
