1983 Atlanta Falcons season

1983 Atlanta Falcons season
General manager	Tom Braatz
Head coach	Dan Henning
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

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.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1983 Atlanta Falcons Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	16	Mike Pitts	DE	Alabama
2	43	Jim Britt	DB	Louisiana State
3	75	Andrew Provence	DT	South Carolina
4	102	John Harper	LB	Southern Illinois
5	129	Brett Miller	OT	Iowa
6	156	Anthony Allen	WR	Washington
7	183	Jeff Turk	DB	Boise State
8	215	John Rade	LB	Boise State
10	268	Ralph Giacomarro	P	Penn State
11	295	John Salley	DB	Wyoming
12	322	Allama Matthews	TE	Vanderbilt

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 roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Steve Bartkowski 15 Mike Moroski Running backs (RB) 31 William Andrews 21 Lynn Cain 42 Gerald Riggs Wide receivers (WR) 83 Floyd Hodge 85 Alfred Jackson 84 Alfred Jenkins 81 Billy Johnson Tight ends (TE) 88 Arthur Cox 80 Junior Miller 86 Ben Young

Offensive linemen (OL) 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 (DL) 69 Dan Benish DT 72 Andrew Provence DT 77 Doug Rogers DE 65 Don Smith DT 79 Jeff Yeates DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Buddy Curry 58 David Frye 52 John Harper 54 Fulton Kuykendall 55 Dave Levenick 59 John Rade Defensive backs (DB) 26 James Britt CB 23 Bobby Butler CB 34 Blane Gaison 37 Kenny Johnson CB 27 Tom Pridemore FS 43 Tom Tutson Special teams 1 Ralph Giacomarro P 18 Mick Luckhurst K

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 4	at Chicago Bears	W 20–17	1–0	Soldier Field	60,165
2	September 11	New York Giants	L 13–16	1–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	58,075
3	September 18	at Detroit Lions	W 30–14	2–1	Pontiac Silverdome	54,622
4	September 25	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–24	2–2	Candlestick Park	57,814
5	October 2	Philadelphia Eagles	L 24–28	2–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	50,621
6	October 9	New Orleans Saints	L 17–19	2–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	51,654
7	October 16	at Los Angeles Rams	L 21–27	2–5	Anaheim Stadium	50,404
8	October 23	at New York Jets	W 27–21	3–5	Giants Stadium	46,878
9	October 30	New England Patriots	W 24–13	4–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	47,546
10	November 6	at New Orleans Saints	L 10–27	4–6	Louisiana Superdome	67,062
11	November 14	Los Angeles Rams	L 13–36	4–7	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	31,202
12	November 20	San Francisco 49ers	W 28–24	5–7	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	39,782
13	November 27	Green Bay Packers	W 47–41	6–7	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	35,688
14	December 4	at Washington Redskins	L 21–37	6–8	RFK Stadium	52,074
15	December 10	at Miami Dolphins	L 24–31	6–9	Miami Orange Bowl	56,725
16	December 18	Buffalo Bills	W 31–14	7–9	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	31,015
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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

References

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