1983 Atlanta Falcons season

1983 Atlanta Falcons season
General managerTom Braatz
Head coachDan Henning
Home fieldFulton County Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersG R. C. Thielemann
T Mike Kenn
FB William Andrews
KR Billy Johnson

The 1983 Atlanta Falcons season was the Falcons’ eighteenth season in the National Football League. The team looked to improve on its 5–4 1982 season and make the playoffs for the second consecutive season. However, the Falcons started out terribly, losing five of their first seven games. The Falcons would finish the season with a 7–9 record in their first season under head coach Dan Henning. This would ultimately prove the first of eight consecutive losing seasons for the Falcons.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1983 Atlanta Falcons Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 16 Mike Pitts DE Alabama
2 43 Jim Britt DB Louisiana State
3 75 Andrew Provence DT South Carolina
4 102 John Harper LB Southern Illinois
5 129 Brett Miller OT Iowa
6 156 Anthony Allen WR Washington
7 183 Jeff Turk DB Boise State
8 215 John Rade LB Boise State
10 268 Ralph Giacomarro P Penn State
11 295 John Salley DB Wyoming
12 322 Allama Matthews TE Vanderbilt

Personnel

Staff

1983 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – George Dostal


Roster

1983 Atlanta Falcons roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 4 at Chicago Bears W 20–17 1–0 Soldier Field 60,165
2 September 11 New York Giants L 13–16 1–1 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 58,075
3 September 18 at Detroit Lions W 30–14 2–1 Pontiac Silverdome 54,622
4 September 25 at San Francisco 49ers L 20–24 2–2 Candlestick Park 57,814
5 October 2 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–28 2–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 50,621
6 October 9 New Orleans Saints L 17–19 2–4 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 51,654
7 October 16 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–27 2–5 Anaheim Stadium 50,404
8 October 23 at New York Jets W 27–21 3–5 Giants Stadium 46,878
9 October 30 New England Patriots W 24–13 4–5 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 47,546
10 November 6 at New Orleans Saints L 10–27 4–6 Louisiana Superdome 67,062
11 November 14 Los Angeles Rams L 13–36 4–7 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 31,202
12 November 20 San Francisco 49ers W 28–24 5–7 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 39,782
13 November 27 Green Bay Packers W 47–41 6–7 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 35,688
14 December 4 at Washington Redskins L 21–37 6–8 RFK Stadium 52,074
15 December 10 at Miami Dolphins L 24–31 6–9 Miami Orange Bowl 56,725
16 December 18 Buffalo Bills W 31–14 7–9 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 31,015
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(2) 10 6 0 .625 4–2 8–4 432 293 W3
Los Angeles Rams(5) 9 7 0 .563 5–1 8–4 361 344 W1
New Orleans Saints 8 8 0 .500 2–4 7–5 319 337 L1
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 370 389 W1

Awards and records

References