1982 Atlanta Falcons season

1982 Atlanta Falcons season
1982 Atlanta Falcons season
General manager	Tom Braatz
Head coach	Leeman Bennett
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	5–4
Division place	5th NFC
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs; (at Vikings) 24–30
Pro Bowlers	C Jeff van Note; G R. C. Thielemann; T Mike Kenn; FB William Andrews
	← 1981; Falcons seasons; 1983 →;

The 1982 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 17th season in the National Football League (NFL). The team qualified for the postseason and won the NFC West for the second time in three years. Due to the players strike, this was not recognized as divisions were dissolved for this year only. As the lone NFC West team to qualify for the playoffs, Falcons were considered the 1982 first place team when 1983 matchups were determined. The Falcons were the first team to get a taste of being the best in the NFC West during the 49ers' dynasty, as the 49ers, from 1981 to 1997, would hog 13 of 17 NFC West pennants.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1982 Atlanta Falcons draft
1	9	Gerald Riggs *	Running back	Arizona State
2	36	Doug Rogers	Defensive end	Stanford
3	63	Stacey Bailey	Wide receiver	San Jose State
4	95	Reggie Brown	Running back	Oregon
5	122	Von Mansfield	Defensive back	Wisconsin
6	149	Mike Kelley	Quarterback	Georgia Tech
7	176	David Toloumu	Running back	Hawaii
8	203	Ricky Eberhardt	Defensive back	Morris Brown
9	235	Mike Horan	Punter	Long Beach State
10	262	Curtis Stowers	Linebacker	Mississippi State
11	288	Jeff Keller	Wide receiver	Washington State
12	315	Dave Levenick	Linebacker	Wisconsin
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

**1982 Atlanta Falcons staff**
	Front office Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Rankin M. Smith, Jr. Executive vice president/chief operating officer – Eddie LeBaron General manager – Tom Braatz Head coaches Head coach – Leeman Bennett Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Dick Wood Offensive backs – John North Receivers – Jimmy Raye Offensive line – Bill Walsh			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Jerry Glanville Defensive line – Jim Stanley Linebackers – Doug Shively

Roster

**1982 Atlanta Falcons roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Steve Bartkowski 15 Mike Moroski Running backs (RB) 31 William Andrews 46 Reggie Brown 21 Lynn Cain 42 Gerald Riggs 33 Bo Robinson Wide receivers (WR) 82 Stacey Bailey 89 William Curran 83 Floyd Hodge 85 Alfred Jackson 84 Alfred Jenkins 81 Billy Johnson 86 Jeffrey Keller Tight ends (TE) 88 Keith Krepfle 80 Junior Miller		Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Warren Bryant T 64 Pat Howell G 78 Mike Kenn T 77 Doug Rogers T 67 Eric Sanders T 70 Dave Scott G 61 John Scully G 68 R.C. Thielemann G 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Jeff Merrow DE 71 Mike Perko DT 77 Doug Rogers DE 65 Don Smith DT 79 Jeff Yeates DE		Linebackers (LB) 50 Buddy Curry 59 Paul Davis 54 Fulton Kuykendall 51 Jim Laughlin 53 Neal Musser 56 Al Richardson 52 Lyman White 58 Joel Williams Defensive backs (DB) 23 Bobby Butler CB 34 Blane Gaison 36 Bob Glazebrook 37 Kenny Johnson CB 27 Tom Pridemore FS 47 Mike Spivey Special teams 3 Dave Smigelsky P 18 Mick Luckhurst K				Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	Attendance	Game recap
1	September 12	at New York Giants	W 16–14	1–0	Giants Stadium	74,286	Recap
2	September 19	Los Angeles Raiders	L 14–38	1–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	54,774	Recap
3	—	at Kansas City Chiefs	Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike †
4	—	San Diego Chargers
5	—	at Los Angeles Rams
6	—	at Detroit Lions
7	—	San Francisco 49ers
8	—	at New Orleans Saints	Rescheduled to January 2
9	—	at Chicago Bears	Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike †
10	—	Philadelphia Eagles	Cancelled due to the 1982 NFL strike †
11	November 21	Los Angeles Rams	W 34–17	2–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	39,686	Recap
12	November 28	St. Louis Cardinals	L 20–23	2–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	33,411	Recap
13	December 5	at Denver Broncos	W 34–27	3–2	Mile High Stadium	73,984	Recap
14	December 12	New Orleans Saints	W 35–0	4–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	39,535	Recap
15	December 19	at San Francisco 49ers	W 17–7	5–2	Candlestick Park	53,234	Recap
16	December 26	Green Bay Packers	L 7–38	5–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	50,245	Recap
17	January 2, 1983	at New Orleans Saints	L 6–35	5–4	Louisiana Superdome	47,336	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Game site	Attendance	Game recap
Wild Card	January 9	at Minnesota Vikings (4)	L 24–30	0–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	60,560	Recap

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Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Atlanta Falcons⁽⁵⁾	5	4	0	.556	3–1	4–3	183	199	L2
New Orleans Saints	4	5	0	.444	2–1	3–5	129	160	W1
San Francisco 49ers	3	6	0	.333	1–3	2–3	209	206	L1
Los Angeles Rams	2	7	0	.222	1–2	1–5	200	250	W1

NFC v t e
#	Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Seeded postseason qualifiers
1	Washington Redskins	8	1	0	.889	190	128	W4
2	Dallas Cowboys	6	3	0	.667	226	145	L2
3	Green Bay Packers	5	3	1	.611	226	169	L1
4^[a]	Minnesota Vikings	5	4	0	.556	187	198	W1
5^[a]	Atlanta Falcons	5	4	0	.556	183	199	L2
6^[a]	St. Louis Cardinals	5	4	0	.556	135	170	L1
7^[a]	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	4	0	.556	158	178	W3
8^[b]	Detroit Lions	4	5	0	.444	181	176	W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
9^[b]	New Orleans Saints	4	5	0	.444	129	160	W1
10^[b]	New York Giants	4	5	0	.444	164	160	W1
11^[c]	San Francisco 49ers	3	6	0	.333	209	206	L1
12^[c]	Chicago Bears	3	6	0	.333	141	174	L1
13^[c]	Philadelphia Eagles	3	6	0	.333	191	195	L1
14	Los Angeles Rams	2	7	0	.222	200	250	W1
Tiebreakers
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games. ^ ^a ^b ^c Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5). ^ ^a ^b ^c San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5).

References

^ "1982 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
^ "1982 Atlanta Falcons".

External links

1982 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com

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[5–4-3] Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games.

[4–5-4] Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5).

[3–6-5] San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5).

[1] "1982 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 20, 2013.

[2] "1982 Atlanta Falcons".

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v t e Atlanta Falcons
Founded in 1966 Based in Atlanta, Georgia Headquartered in Flowery Branch, Georgia
Franchise	Franchise Team history Seasons All-time roster Quarterbacks Head coaches Expansion draft Draft history First-round draft picks
Stadiums	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Georgia Dome Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Culture	Rankin M. Smith Sr. Arthur Blank Freddie Falcon The "Dirty Bird" (dance) "2 Legit 2 Quit" Brian Banks Quarterback
Lore	Grits Blitz Gary Anderson's missed field goal Michael Vick dog fighting investigation Timeline 28–3
Rivalries	Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints Philadelphia Eagles Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wild card / First round berths (8)	1978 1982 1991 1995 2002 2008 2011 2017
Division championships (6)	1980 1998 2004 2010 2012 2016
Conference championships (2)	1998 2016
Ring of Honor	2 10 21 28 31 42 57 58 60 78 84 87
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division
Category