1983 Atlanta Falcons season

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.

1983 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coach	Dan Henning
General manager	Tom Braatz
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	G R. C. Thielemann T Mike Kenn FB William Andrews KR Billy Johnson

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1

Personnel

Staff

1983 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 – Dan Henning Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Running Backs – Steve Crosby Receivers – Bob Harrison Offensive Line – Bob Fry Assistant Offensive Line – Garry Puetz			Defensive coaches Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line – Dan Sekanovich Defensive Coordinator – John Marshall Linebackers – Bobby Jackson Secondary – Jack Christiansen Special teams coaches Special Teams – Ted Fritsch Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – George Dostal

Roster

1983 Atlanta Falcons final roster

	Quarterbacks 10 Steve Bartkowski 15 Mike Moroski Running backs 31 William Andrews 21 Lynn Cain 42 Gerald Riggs Wide receivers 83 Floyd Hodge 85 Alfred Jackson 84 Alfred Jenkins 81 Billy Johnson Tight ends 88 Arthur Cox 80 Junior Miller 86 Ben Young		Offensive linemen 71 Dan Dufour G 78 Mike Kenn T 62 Brett Miller G 67 Eric Sanders T 61 John Scully G 68 R.C. Thielemann G 57 Jeff Van Note C Defensive linemen 69 Dan Benish DT 72 Andrew Provence DT 77 Doug Rogers DE 65 Don Smith DT 79 Jeff Yeates DE		Linebackers 50 Buddy Curry 54 Fulton Kuykendall 55 Dave Levenick 59 John Rade Defensive backs 26 James Britt CB 23 Bobby Butler CB 34 Blane Gaison 37 Kenny Johnson CB 27 Tom Pridemore FS Special teams 1 Ralph Giacomarro P 18 Mick Luckhurst K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 4, 1983	at Chicago Bears	W 20–17	60,165
2	September 11, 1983	New York Giants	L 16–13	58,075
3	September 18, 1983	at Detroit Lions	W 30–14	54,622
4	September 25, 1983	at San Francisco 49ers	L 24–20	57,814
5	October 2, 1983	Philadelphia Eagles	L 28–24	50,621
6	October 9, 1983	New Orleans Saints	L 19–17	51,654
7	October 16, 1983	at Los Angeles Rams	L 27–21	50,404
8	October 23, 1983	at New York Jets	W 27–21	46,878
9	October 30, 1983	New England Patriots	W 24–13	47,546
10	November 6, 1983	at New Orleans Saints	L 27–10	67,062
11	November 14, 1983	Los Angeles Rams	L 36–13	31,202
12	November 20, 1983	San Francisco 49ers	W 28–24	39,782
13	November 27, 1983	Green Bay Packers	W 47–41	35,688
14	December 4, 1983	at Washington Redskins	L 37–21	52,074
15	December 10, 1983	at Miami Dolphins	L 31–24	56,725
16	December 18, 1983	Buffalo Bills	W 31–14	31,015

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

• Falcons on Pro Football Reference
• Falcons on jt-sw.com