FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The talent of the quarterbacks who might be available to the Atlanta Falcons in 2023 could impact decisions by general manager Terry Fontenot with the No. 8 overall pick in next week's NFL draft.
8. ATLANTA FALCONS (7-10)
LAST SEASON: The Falcons were outscored 459-313, making seven wins something of an accomplishment under first-year coach Arthur Smith. Highlights included the play of rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, who led the team with 68 catches for 1,026 yards, and versatile Cordarrelle Patterson, who scored a combined 11 touchdowns while leading the team in rushing and finishing third in receptions.
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral showed off his right arm and his apparently healthy right ankle for NFL teams.
Corral threw for representatives of almost every NFL team at the Ole Miss pro day on Wednesday, including at least four head coaches: Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin, Atlanta's Arthur Smith, Carolina's Matt Rhule and Mike McCarthy of Dallas.
ATLANTA (AP) — For the first time since 2008, the Atlanta Falcons will be breaking in a new quarterback.
That's hardly their only concern after trading Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have made dramatic progress in close games.
The next challenge is to create more tight finishes. And wins.
The Falcons (7-10) capped their fourth consecutive losing season with Sunday's 30-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Duron Harmon sees promise in the Atlanta Falcons, while coming to the realization they have only one more game left in their season, and his future beyond that is uncertain.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons remain a long shot for the playoffs. They also remain below .500 at 7-8, but already the Falcons have a win.
They’ve won the right to be called relevant as December comes to a close.
ATLANTA (AP) — Arthur Smith is running out of time to collect his first true home win in his debut season with the Atlanta Falcons.
Smith's best opportunity could come Sunday against Detroit, when Lions first-year coach Dan Campbell will try again for his first road win.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Russell Gage's late-season emergence is especially important as quarterback Matt Ryan tries to keep the Atlanta Falcons' passing game moving despite more uncertainty at wide receiver.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons are leaning on the “crazier things have happened” justification for retaining playoff hopes following a loss at San Francisco that had the appearance of a postseason elimination game.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons free safety Erik Harris is done for the season with a pectoral injury.
Coach Arthur Smith confirmed Wednesday that Harris will be placed on injured reserve after undergoing an MRI.
ATLANTA (AP) — First-year coach Arthur Smith has been adamant that the Atlanta Falcons can run the ball effectively no matter the opponent.
Turns out he was right.
The Falcons have rushed for 398 yards the last three weeks against Carolina, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville, each of which is ranked in the top half of the league in run defense.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Atlanta linebacker Mykal Walker has no explanation why the Falcons have played so well on the road this season and struggled at home.
“For me personally, I don’t see any difference between playing on the road or at home," Walker said.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons wanted to try to run the ball against the NFL’s top rushing defense.
That part worked out. It just wasn't enough against Tom Brady and Tampa Bay.
Cordarrelle Patterson had 78 of Atlanta’s 121 yards rushing, but Brady passed for four touchdowns in the Buccaneers' 30-17 win on Sunday.
ATLANTA (AP) — Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are cruising in the NFC South.
The Atlanta Falcons would like to put a little pressure on the defending Super Bowl champions.
After losing at Tampa Bay in Week 2, the Falcons get another crack at their division rival on Sunday.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons finally found some room to run, just enough to help them stay on the fringe of the NFC playoff picture.
Cordarrelle Patterson ran for a career-high 108 yards and two touchdowns in his return from an ankle injury, and the Falcons found the end zone and the win column for the first time in three weeks in a 21-14 victory over woeful Jacksonville on Sunday.
ATLANTA (AP) — Coming off one of the worst performances in franchise history, the Atlanta Falcons have only a few days to turn things around.
If rookie coach Arthur Smith can't get things fixed — and quickly — the Falcons could be in for another grim game against one of the NFL's hottest teams.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Cordarrelle Patterson says the Atlanta Falcons must “stop giving people heart attacks.”
Patterson is in his first season in Atlanta, so he lacks the historical perspective to know heart-stopping wins in the first half of 2021 are the Falcons fans' preferred option to heartbreak losses of last year.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons find themselves in an unusual place — .500.
For the first time since Week 2 of the 2019 season, the Falcons have won as many games as they've lost.
A last-second, 30-28 victory over the Miami Dolphins was Atlanta's second straight win and pushed the team's record to 3-3.
ATLANTA (AP) — Five weeks into Arthur Smith's regime, the Atlanta Falcons are back where they ended last season.
They're last in the NFC South.
There's a difference, however. There are small signs of improvement that provide reason for encouragement.
ATLANTA (AP) — A week after blowing an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Atlanta Falcons showed some backbone in a 27-20 victory over the New York Jets.
They can thank rookie tight end Kyle Pitts and quarterback Matt Ryan for that.
ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Falcons leading receiver Calvin Ridley will not play in Sunday's game against the New York Jets in London for personal reasons.
After Ridley was not present for Thursday's practice, the Falcons announced Ridley would not accompany the team to London “due to a personal matter.”
Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith said a practice-week option before Sunday’s game against the New York Jets in London was to spend the whole week overseas, and “treat it like a bowl week.”
The Falcons and Jets, each 1-3, declined the bowl-week approach.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons must reconfigure their secondary this week after losing nickel back Isaiah Oliver to a season-ending knee injury.
Also, starting safety Erik Harris' status for Sunday's game against the New York Jets in London is uncertain because of a calf injury that forced him out of last week's 34-30 loss to Washington.
ATLANTA (AP) — All the Atlanta Falcons needed was a first down or two to put away Washington, but coach Arthur Smith was left to lament what might have been.
His offense fizzled in the fourth quarter and failed to utilize its best playmaker, Cordarrelle Patterson, in the final period.
ATLANTA (AP) — Arthur Smith is trying to channel his inner Ted Lasso.
Coming off his first win as an NFL head coach, Smith wants to bring some much-needed good vibes to an Atlanta Falcons franchise that has endured plenty of heartache over the years, not unlike the TV show's fictional English soccer team.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — After three games and a lot of ugly football, Arthur Smith finally picked up his first win as an NFL coach and his first game ball, courtesy of Matt Ryan.
As far as celebratory dancing in the Falcons' locker room after their last-second 17-14 win over the New York Giants on Sunday, Smith and owner Arthur Blank declined to take part.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons will be without receiver Russell Gage and cornerback A.J. Terrell for Sunday's game against the New York Giants.
Coach Arthur Smith ruled out both players on Friday, along with rookie receiver Frank Darby.
Week 3 is here and with it comes a bevy of potentially fruitful matchups. These players are my best bets to capitalize on their pairings at the running back and wide receiver positions.
ATLANTA (AP) — A week after looking downright pathetic in a season-opening loss to Philadelphia, the Atlanta Falcons were at least competent in a 48-25 defeat at Tampa Bay.
The score was not entirely indicative of the game's flow, and first-year coach Arthur Smith was hardly despondent.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons found themselves down by three in the fourth quarter with a real chance for a potential upset of the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Those hopes were dashed in a disastrous finish that saw the Bucs score 20 points during the final quarter en route to a 48-25 win over Atlanta on Sunday.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons' problem in their lopsided season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was not the fact they had a rookie coach.
The Falcons' problem was they played like a rookie team, especially on offense.
How difficult is achieving a successful debut in the NFL? Ask Urban Meyer and Arthur Smith, new head coaches whose teams looked as if they were still in spring workouts.
ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta first-year coach Arthur Smith had reason for optimism when his offense ran 29 plays and gained 136 yards on two clock-draining possessions to open his debut.
The bad news for Smith's Falcons: The two long drives produced only six points.
ATLANTA (AP) — Call this the Rebuilding Bowl.
When the Atlanta Falcons open the season Sunday hosting the Philadelphia Eagles, it will be a matchup of rookie coaches leading the two worst teams in the NFC from a year ago.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — There’s more uncertainty than usual surrounding the AFC South, and it extends beyond Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson.
The NFL’s lone division with two playoff teams in each of the last four years is dealing with significant changes heading into the 2021 season.
ATLANTA (AP) — Baker Mayfield finally got a chance to play in the preseason.
It didn't last long, but he sure made the most of it.
Mayfield led a pair of impressive drives in his preseason debut, capping the second with a 22-yard touchdown pass to KhaDarel Hodge that sparked the Cleveland Browns to a 19-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night.
ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons plan to sign a quarterback this week after losing backup AJ McCarron to a season-ending knee injury.
The Falcons began working out free-agent quarterbacks after Monday's practice.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga (AP) — Falcons quarterback AJ McCarron is done for the season after sustaining a knee injury in a preseason loss to the Miami Dolphins, putting Atlanta in the market for a quarterback to back up Matt Ryan.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins had an early injury scare to one of their new additions, then soundly defeated an opponent they became familiar with this week.
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 187 yards and a touchdown in one half, and the Dolphins beat the Atlanta Falcons 37-17 on Saturday night.
ATLANTA (AP) — Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley each threw touchdown passes to open Tennessee’s backup quarterback competition and the Titans beat the Atlanta Falcons 23-3 on Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams.
ATLANTA (AP) — Following his first look at his offense in a game situation, the best news for Atlanta first-year coach Arthur Smith was the dismal results didn't count.
Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley each threw touchdown passes to open Tennessee's backup quarterback competition and the Titans dominated the Falcons 23-3 on Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons signed running back D'Onta Foreman on Monday, adding depth behind new starter Mike Davis.
The Falcons also activated right tackle Kaleb McGary, a starter the last two years, from the physically unable to perform list.
ATLANTA (AP) — Arthur Smith delivered a frank answer when asked about entering his first season as the Atlanta Falcons' coach without Julio Jones.
“I don’t worry about players I never coached,” Smith said following Tuesday's opening day of mandatory minicamp.