1991 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1991 Atlanta Falcons season was the team's 26th season in the National Football League (NFL). It was also the final season they played at Fulton County Stadium, before moving into the Georgia Dome the following year. The season would be the most successful Atlanta compiled in almost a decade, with the team recording a winning record for the first time in nine years. Additionally, the team won its first playoff game since 1978, by defeating the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Wild Card Game.

1991 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin Smith
Head coach	Jerry Glanville
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card playoffs (at Saints) 27–20 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Redskins) 7-24

The Falcons playing against the LA Rams at Anaheim Stadium in 1991

Offseason

NFL draft

The Falcons' most notable selection in the 1991 NFL draft was future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who was drafted by in the second round, 33rd overall.[1] Head coach Jerry Glanville did not approve of the drafting of Favre, saying it would take a plane crash for him to put Favre into the game.[2] Favre's first pass in an NFL regular season game resulted in an interception returned for a touchdown. He only attempted four passes in his career at Atlanta, completing none of them.[3] Favre's tenure in Atlanta was short-lived and after the season, he was traded to the Green Bay Packers, where he had his best years in and would play the next 16 years in and led the Packers to 11 playoff appearances, Super Bowl XXXII, and to their 3rd Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXI. Favre also won 3 straight MVP awards, and was a 9-time Pro Bowler during his tenure in Green Bay.

1991 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Bruce Pickens	Cornerback	Nebraska
1	13	Mike Pritchard	Wide receiver	Colorado
2	33	Brett Favre * ^†	Quarterback	Southern Mississippi
4	87	Moe Gardner	Defensive tackle	Illinois
5	114	James Goode	Linebacker	Oklahoma
6	145	Erric Pegram	Running back	North Texas
7	172	Brian Mitchell	Cornerback	BYU
7	186	Mark Tucker	Guard	USC
8	199	Randy Austin	Tight end	UCLA
9	226	Ernie Logan	Defensive tackle	East Carolina
10	256	Walter Sutton	Wide receiver	Southwest Minnesota State
11	258	Pete Lucas	Offensive tackle	Wisconsin–Stevens Point
11	283	Joe Sims	Offensive tackle	Nebraska
12	310	Bob Christian	Fullback	Northwestern
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[4]

Personnel

Staff

1991 Atlanta Falcons staff

	Front office Chairman of the Board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Taylor Smith Vice President of Player Personnel – Ken Herock Director of Pro Scouting – Chuck Connor Head coaches Head Coach – Jerry Glanville Offensive coaches Assistant Head Coach/Offense – June Jones Running Backs – Ollie Wilson Wide Receivers – Jimmy Robinson Tight Ends – Bobby April Offensive Line – Keith Rowen			Defensive coaches Assistant Head Coach/Defense – Doug Shively Defensive Line – Bill Kollar Secondary – Jimmy Carr Special teams coaches Special Teams – Bobby April Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Tim Jorgensen

Roster

1991 Atlanta Falcons roster

	Quarterbacks  4 Brett Favre 12 Chris Miller 13 Billy Joe Tolliver Running backs 34 Steve Broussard 28 Pat Chaffey 43 Tracy Johnson 38 Keith Jones 41 Erric Pegram 30 Mike Rozier Wide receivers 86 Floyd Dixon 81 Michael Haynes 82 Jason Phillips 35 Mike Pritchard 80 Andre Rison 89 George Thomas Tight ends 46 Rich Bartlewski 83 Aundray Bruce 88 Harper LeBel 87 Gary Wilkins		Offensive linemen 65 Guy Bingham C 64 Jamie Dukes C 79 Bill Fralic G 71 Chris Hinton T 69 Houston Hoover G 68 John Hunter T 78 Mike Kenn T 70 Reggie Redding G/T 55 Mike Ruether G 66 Joe Sims G/T Defensive linemen 72 Oliver Barnett DE 77 Rick Bryan DE 74 Tory Epps NT 67 Moe Gardner NT 99 Tim Green DE		Linebackers 56 Darion Conner OLB 54 Robert Lyles OLB 51 Wes Pritchett 59 John Rade ILB 52 Ken Tippins ILB/OLB 58 Jessie Tuggle ILB Defensive backs 23 Bobby Butler CB 25 Scott Case FS 42 Jeff Donaldson S 40 Brian Jordan SS 32 Tracey Eaton S 27 William Evers CB 29 Joe Fishback S 22 Tim McKyer CB 36 Brian Mitchell CB 39 Bruce Pickens CB 21 Deion Sanders CB/RS 37 Elbert Shelley S Special teams  5 Brad Daluiso K 17 Scott Fulhage P  9 Norm Johnson K		Reserve lists 85 Shawn Collins WR (IR) 76 Mike Gann DE (IR) 95 Michael Reid LB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

[5]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 1	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 3–14	0–1	Arrowhead Stadium	74,246	Recap
2	September 8	Minnesota Vikings	L 19–20	0–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	50,936	Recap
3	September 15	at San Diego Chargers	W 13–10	1–2	Jack Murphy Stadium	44,804	Recap
4	September 22	Los Angeles Raiders	W 21–17	2–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	53,615	Recap
5	September 29	New Orleans Saints	L 6–27	2–3	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	56,556	Recap
6	Bye
7	October 13	at San Francisco 49ers	W 39–34	3–3	Candlestick Park	57,343	Recap
8	October 20	at Phoenix Cardinals	L 10–16	3–4	Sun Devil Stadium	29,804	Recap
9	October 27	Los Angeles Rams	W 31–14	4–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	50,187	Recap
10	November 3	San Francisco 49ers	W 17–14	5–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	51,259	Recap
11	November 10	at Washington Redskins	L 17–56	5–5	RFK Stadium	52,461	Recap
12	November 17	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 43–7	6–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	41,274	Recap
13	November 24	at New Orleans Saints	W 23–20	7–5	Louisiana Superdome	68,591	Recap
14	December 1	Green Bay Packers	W 35–31	8–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	43,270	Recap
15	December 8	at Los Angeles Rams	W 31–14	9–5	Anaheim Stadium	35,315	Recap
16	December 15	Seattle Seahawks	W 26–13	10–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	53,834	Recap
17	December 22	at Dallas Cowboys	L 27–31	10–6	Texas Stadium	60,962	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
^(3) New Orleans Saints	11	5	0	.688	4–2	8–4	341	211	W2
^(6) Atlanta Falcons	10	6	0	.625	5–1	7–5	361	338	L1
San Francisco 49ers	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	393	239	W6
Los Angeles Rams	3	13	0	.188	0–6	2–10	234	390	L10

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 3 0 0 0 3 • Chiefs 0 0 7 7 14 Date: September 1 Location: Arrowhead Stadium Game start: 12:00 CST Referee: Dick Hantak Television network: CBS

[6]

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Vikings 7 0 7 6 20 Falcons 3 7 0 9 19 Date: September 8 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Game start: 1:00 EST Referee: Tom White Television network: CBS

[7]

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 7 3 3 0 13 Chargers 0 7 0 3 10 Date: September 15 Location: Jack Murphy Stadium Game start: 1:00 PST Television network: CBS

[8]

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 7 7 3 17 • Falcons 7 0 7 7 21 Date: September 22 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium

[9]

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total • Saints 3 7 10 7 27 Falcons 0 6 0 0 6 Date: September 29 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Referee: Larry Nemmers TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz and Hank Stram

[10]

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 14 6 13 6 39 49ers 0 14 13 7 34 Date: October 13 Location: Candlestick Park

[11]

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 7 3 0 0 10 • Cardinals 3 0 10 3 16 Date: October 20 Location: Sun Devil Stadium Television network: CBS

[12]

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 0 0 14 14 • Falcons 7 14 10 0 31 Date: October 27 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 71°F; wind 10 Referee: Gerald Austin Television network: CBS

Scoring summary Q1 8:08 ATL Dixon 19 yard pass from Miller (N. Johnson kick) ATL 7–0 Q2 7:28 ATL Chaffey 5 yard run (N. Johnson kick) ATL 14–0 Q2 0:22 ATL Rison 20 yard pass from Miller (N. Johnson kick) ATL 21–0 Q3 11:50 ATL Haynes 55 yard pass from Miller (N. Johnson kick) ATL 28–0 Q3 0:53 ATL N. Johnson 44 yard field goal ATL 31–0 Q4 13:32 LA Delpino 9 yard run (Zendejas kick) ATL 31–7 Q4 1:54 LA Carter 18 yard pass from Pagel (Zendejas kick) ATL 31–14

• Michael Haynes 4 Rec, 110 Yds

[13] [14]

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total 49ers 0 7 0 7 14 • Falcons 0 0 0 17 17 Date: November 3 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Game start: 1:00 EST Referee: Bernie Kukar TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz and Hank Stram

[15]

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 3 0 14 0 17 • Redskins 7 21 7 21 56 Date: November 10 Location: RFK Stadium Referee: Dale Hamer TV announcers (CBS): James Brown and Randy Cross

[16]

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Buccaneers 0 0 0 7 7 • Falcons 0 33 3 7 43 Date: November 17 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium

[17]

Week 13

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Falcons 0 3 7 10 3 23 Saints 0 7 6 7 0 20 Date: November 24 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Tom White TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann

[18]

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Packers 7 14 0 10 31 • Falcons 7 0 7 21 35 Date: December 1 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (CBS): James Brown and Randy Cross

[19]

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 10 14 7 0 31 Rams 0 7 0 7 14 Date: December 8 Location: Anaheim Stadium Television network: CBS

[20]

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total Seahawks 0 0 3 10 13 • Falcons 2 10 7 7 26 Date: December 15 Location: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (NBC): Joel Meyers and Dan Hampton

[21]

Week 17

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 14 3 10 0 27 • Cowboys 21 3 0 7 31 Date: December 22 Location: Texas Stadium Referee: Johnny Grier TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Merlin Olsen

[22]

Playoffs

Wild Card

1 2 3 4 Total • Falcons 0 10 7 10 27 Saints 7 6 0 7 20 Date: December 28 Location: Louisiana Superdome Game start: 3:00 p.m. CST Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Howard Roe TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf

Falcons quarterback Chris Miller completed the game-winning 61-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Michael Haynes with 2:41 left in the contest. Miller completed 18 out of 30 passes for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Divisional

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 7 0 0 7 • Redskins 0 14 3 7 24 Date: January 4 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST Game weather: Rain; 49°F Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Dan Fouts

During their regular season meeting, Washington defeated Atlanta 56–17, with quarterback Mark Rypien throwing for 446 yards and 6 touchdowns. In this game the score was closer, but the result was still the same.

Under rainy and muddy conditions, the Redskins forced 6 turnovers, held the ball for over 36 minutes, and scored two touchdowns in a span of 3:11 in the second quarter.

Awards and records

• Deion Sanders, Pro Bowl selection (1991)
• Deion Sanders, Associated Press Second-team All-pro selection (1991)

References

1. "NFL Draft History – 1991". NFL.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
2. D'Amato, Gary (2005-10-24). "Trading places". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-06-03. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
3. http://www.nfl.com/players/brettfavre/careerstats?id=FAV540222
4. "1991 Atlanta Falcons draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
5. "1991 Atlanta Falcons starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
6. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
7. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
8. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
9. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
10. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
11. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
12. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
13. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
14. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
15. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
16. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
17. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
18. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
19. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
20. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
21. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.
22. The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Feb-11.

External links

• 1991 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com