Atlanta Falcons Facts (feel free to add your own)

[Peyton]

LOL I am totally going to dominate this thread (I stole this from myself over at the other board):

1. Todd McClure holds the Falcons record for starting the most games consecutively in franchise history with his current streak of 139.

2. The Falcons finished in the top 5 in total offense only once, in 1980. The Falcons highest finish in scoring offense was 2nd in 1981, but the team only managed a 7-9 record.

3. Brent Grimes is only the 4th player from Shippensburg University to see playing time in the NFL.

4. In 1977, the Falcons had the best scoring defense in NFL history, allowing just 9.2 points per game, but still only went 7-7.

5. Marion Campbell is the only person with two stints as coach of the Falcons. He was 6-19 in his first stint, but was inexplicably hired again in 1987. He did even worse in the second stretch, with an 11-42 record.

6. Although Campbell’s stint from 1987-1989 is largely considered the darkest 3 year period in Falcons history, the team did knock off the eventual Super Bowl champions in both 1987 and 1988, beating the Doug Williams led Redskins in 87 and stunning the 49ers in Candlestick in 1988.

7. Michael Jenkins career high for receiving yardage in a game is 83 yards, the lowest total for any NFL receiver in history with more than 50 starts. Bryant Johnson is the only guy who even comes close to matching this, but I understand he is an excellent blocker. Update - it's 99 now.

8. One of the most famous plays in Falcons history is the hail mary to White Shoes to beat the Niners in 83. One week later, the Falcons completed another hail mary from Mike Moroski to Stacey Bailey to tighten a game against the Packers going into halftime.

9. Kenny Johnson played prominent roles in both of those exciting games. In the 49ers game, he devastated Skeets Nehemiah and probably made him rethink the whole football thing. In the Packers game Kenny Johnson gave the Falcons the lead with a 4th quarter pick 6, then won the game with another pick 6 in overtime.

10. In the aforementioned Packers game, the Falcons overcame a 21 -0 deficit for the second time in a 5 week span, having done the same against the Jets 5 weeks earlier. Those two games represent the biggest comebacks in Falcons history.

11. Despite 3 of the most exciting wins in Falcons history, the 1983 Falcons went only 7-9.

12. In 1995, the Falcons became the first offense in NFL history with 4 players to achieve 1000 yards from scrimmage, but surprisingly only finished 10th in total offense and 11th in scoring offense.

13. The best record for any 3 year period in Falcons history is 27-21. This year’s Falcons need only an 8-8 record to top it.

14. Steve Bartkowski threw 30 TDs and 51 INTs in his first 4 seasons, and didn’t throw more TDs than INTs until his 6th season in the league.

15. Nonetheless, Steve was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1975, despite completing 45% of his passes and compiling a 4-7 record as a starter. Goes to show you how much QB development has changed.

16. Chris Chandler set a modern NFL record for YPA in 1998 at 9.6, a record that has since only been topped by Kurt Warner in 2000.

17. Roddy White had more catches last year than all other WRs on the Falcons roster combined – 85 to 83. It was the first time that has happened with the Falcons since 1981, when only 3 WRs had catches.

18. Deion Sanders fumbled on his very first play as a punt returner for the Atlanta Falcons. The play was called back because of a penalty, and Deion took the re-kick to the house.

19. In the opener of 1973, the Falcons went to New Orleans and set franchise records for points (62), offensive yards (496), and first downs (32) in a 62-7 stomping of the Saints. The following week, the Falcons were stomped by the Rams 31-0 and managed a franchise low 2 first downs. The Falcons did not score another TD in the following two games either against the Lions and 49ers, and lost the three games by a combined 75-15.

20. Following the miserable 3 game stretch, the 73 Falcons reeled off 7 wins, at the time a franchise record, outscoring opponents 211-83.

21. In 1988, the Falcons did not have a WR with more than 28 catches.

22. In 1987, the Falcons completed passes to 26 different players. Ironically, that team finished last in total offense and scoring offense. So much for my spreading it around theory.

23. The Falcons threw more passes in 2009 than in any season since 1996.

24. The Falcons won four games in 1978 by identical 20-17 scores, including two miraculous wins against the New Orleans Saints that put the Falcons into the playoffs instead of the Saints.

25. In 1978, the Falcons beat the Eagles 14-13 for their first ever playoff victory in what also happened to be the first ever NFL Wild Card game.

26. The difference in the Falcons victory was a missed extra point by the Eagles and also a missed FG on the final play of the game. Falcons kicker, Tim Mazetti, had been cut by the Eagles in preseason of that very same season.

27. In 1989, Shawn Collins had more catches than any rookie receiver drafted in the NFL during the 1980s with 58, but he only managed 54 for the balance of his career.

28. In 1990, the Falcons made the best trade in franchise history by trading away the rights to Jeff George for Chris Hinton, Andre Rison, and a 1st round pick that would turn into Mike Pritchard.

29. In 1994, the Falcons made arguably the worst trade in franchise history when they sent two first round picks and a 3rd round pick to Indianapolis for the same Jeff George, who by this time, had amassed a 14-35 record as a starting QB. Indy traded the first pick in 94 that wound up being Bryant Young, and the second 1st round pick in 96 turned out to be Marvin Harrison. So…basically the Falcons traded two possible HOF players for the rights to a QB that had compiled a 28% winning percentage. Both of those other guys got Super Bowl rings. It ended badly.

30. The 2008 Atlanta Falcons gained more offensive yards than any team in franchise history.

31. The 2010 Falcons, according to John Clayton, have the fewest new players in the league. Time will tell if that is a good thing or bad thing.