The 2018 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) NFC South, South division. The Falcon ...

' 53rd 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 majo ...

, their second playing their home games at

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in August 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it serves as the home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League ( ...

(the venue for

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

) and their fourth under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

Dan Quinn. The Falcons attempted to be the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium as an expected Super Bowl contender. However, the Falcons were riddled with injuries, losing 7 starters to IR with the Falcons stumbling to a 1–4 start. Following a 31–17 loss to the

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

in Week 12, the Falcons fell to 4–7 and failed to match their 10–6 campaign from

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

. With a 34–20 loss to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

, the Falcons fell to 4–9 and suffered their first losing season since the 2014 season. Despite beating the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play th ...

40–14 in Week 15, the Falcons were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

with a win by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. However, they were able to end their season with a 3 game win streak to finish 7–9.

Roster changes

Free agents

Unrestricted

Draft

Draft trades *The Falcons traded their fifth-round selection (163rd overall) to Denver in exchange for offensive tackle

Ty Sambrailo Tyler William Sambrailo ( ; born March 10, 1992) is a former American football Tackle (gridiron football position), tackle. He played college football for Colorado State University. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the ...

. *The Falcons were awarded a seventh-round compensatory pick (256th overall). *The Falcons traded both of their seventh-round selections (244th and 256th overall) to Los Angeles in exchange for the Rams' sixth-round selection (194th overall).

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

The Falcons' preseason opponents and schedule was announced on April 11.

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Philadelphia Eagles

NFL Kickoff Game The National Football League Kickoff game, along with related festivities, marks the official start of the National Football League (NFL) regular season. A single game is held, preceded by a concert and other ceremonies. This first game of the se ...

Week 2: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 3: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 4: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 5: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 6: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 7: vs. New York Giants

Week 9: at Washington Redskins

Week 10: at Cleveland Browns

Week 11: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week 12: at New Orleans Saints

NFL on Thanksgiving Day Since its inception in 1920, the National Football League (NFL) has played games on Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving Day, patterned upon the historic playing of college football games on and around the Thanksgiving holiday. The NFL's Th ...

Week 13: vs. Baltimore Ravens

The Falcons were the only

NFC South The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...

team to lose to all of their

AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL ...

opponents in 2018.

Week 14: at Green Bay Packers

Matt Ryan eclipsed 4,000 yards, becoming the third quarterback in NFL history to reach 4,000 in at least eight consecutive seasons, joining

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...

(2006-2017) &

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with ...

(2006-2014). Julio Jones eclipsed 1,400 yards and became the first player in NFL history to register five consecutive seasons with at least 1,400 yards.

Week 15: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Despite this win, the loss by Miami to Minnesota eliminated the Falcons from post-season contention and once again assures that the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

host team will not play the

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

on their own field.

Week 16: at Carolina Panthers

Week 17: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Standings

Division

Conference

References

External links

* {{2018 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 498,7 ...

Atlanta Falcons seasons