The 2021 season was the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

' 56th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, their fifth playing their home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and their first under general manager

Terry Fontenot Terry Houston Fontenot (born December 16, 1980) is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). Fontenot previously served with the New Orleans Saints in various executiv ...

and head coach Arthur Smith. For the first time since

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, wide receiver

Julio Jones Quintorris Lopez "Julio" Jones Jr. (; born February 8, 1989) is an American football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falco ...

was not on the roster as he was traded to the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

on June 6, 2021. Jones departed Atlanta holding the most career receiving yards and receptions in Falcons franchise history. Following their Week 12 win over the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, the Falcons improved their 4–12 season from the previous year. However, the Falcons were eliminated from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive year following a Week 17 loss to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. It was also their final season with

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Matt Ryan, as he was traded to the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

for the following season.

Draft

Notes * The Falcons were awarded 3 compensatory picks in the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

. * The Falcons traded their second-round (35th overall) and sixth-round (219th overall) picks to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in exchange for their second-round (40th overall) and fourth-round (114th overall) selections.

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

The Falcons

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

schedule was announced on May 12. They opened the season at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The Falcons start their season off with a 26-point loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Week 2: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 3: at New York Giants

Week 4: vs. Washington Football Team

Week 5: vs. New York Jets

NFL London games

Week 7: at Miami Dolphins

Week 8: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 9: at New Orleans Saints

Younghoe Koo kicked a game-winning field goal as time ran out, improving Atlanta to 4–4.

Week 10: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 11: vs. New England Patriots

Week 12: at Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 13: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 14: at Carolina Panthers

Week 15: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 16: vs. Detroit Lions

Week 17: at Buffalo Bills

Week 18: vs. New Orleans Saints

Coming off with a 2-point win in Week 9, they host the Saints. They were defeated by 10 points and finish their season with a 7-10 record.

Standings

Division

Conference

References

External links

* {{2021 NFL season by team

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Atlanta Falcons seasons