FLOWERY BRANCH — For the seventh consecutive season, the Falcons, who finished 8-9, are on the sidelines for the NFL playoffs.
Coach Raheem Morris instructed key players to watch the action on the field, and general manager Terry Fontenot will study the infrastructure of playoff teams.
The Falcons are hoping to use the playoffs to help them grow.
“Get away a little bit, get a chance to watch these playoff games and let it sting,” Morris said. “You want that to sting. You want that to simmer. You want that feeling of that one-two to hit them.”
He’s hopeful that watching the playoffs will make the players more determined next season.
Fontenot will look at how the teams were built and the schemes they utilized.
“We have to study all of those things,” Fontenot said. “We start off internally. We study ourselves, then we figure out the blueprint to get to where we need to go.”
In the NFC, the Lions (No. 1 seed), Eagles (2), Bucs (3), Rams (4) and Green Bay (7) return to the playoffs. The Vikings (5) and Commanders (6) made the playoffs after missing last season. The Commanders were last in the playoffs in 2020.
The Commanders are coached by former Falcons coach Dan Quinn. They drafted quarterback Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick this year. The Commanders went from 4-13 in 2024 to 12-5, as the dynamic Daniels is likely to win the rookie offensive player-of-the-year award.
The Vikings missed the playoffs in 2024 and elected to move on from quarterback Kirk Cousins, who signed with the Falcons. They drafted J.J. McCarthy, but made the playoffs with quarterback Sam Darnold resurrecting his career after time with the Jets, Panthers and 49ers.
The Falcons went 3-2 against teams in the NFC playoffs and will study all seven teams. The Falcons beat Tampa Bay twice and Philadelphia and lost to Washington and Minnesota. They did not play Green Bay, Detroit or the Rams.
“The specific defenses,” Fontenot said. “What they are doing and how effective they are in specific schemes. We study all of those things. We’ll study those teams that have been really effective and do our best to learn and help us make decisions here.”
During Fontenot’s tenure with the Saints from 2005-20, they went to the playoffs nine times and won the Super Bowl after the 2009 season.
With the Falcons, Fontenot inherited Matt Ryan, who was in the final stages of his marvelous career. When they weren’t successful in signing quarterback Deshaun Watson after the 2021 season, the Falcons traded Ryan to the Colts and played the next season with a record dead money under the salary cap.
This season was the closest the Falcons have been to the playoffs since the 2017 season, which they were upset by the Eagles and backup quarterback Nick Foles in the divisional round. The Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl just a year after the Falcons’ historic collapse in Super Bowl 51.
After a four-game losing streak in midseason, the Falcons needed to win their final game of last season and hope that the Saints beat the Bucs to make the playoffs. The Falcons lost to the Panthers, and the Bucs beat the Saints.
“First of all, I’m going to be real clear that we have not done a good-enough job,” Fontenot said. “I haven’t done a good-enough job. We haven’t won enough. So, when you haven’t won enough, it starts with me. That’s my job to make this team a consistent winner. I haven’t done a good-enough job.”
The Falcons retained Fontenot after electing to move on from coach Arthur Smith after three 7-10 seasons.
“That’s my job, to help everyone in the building to be as effective in their roles so that we can win more games,” Fontenot said. “We haven’t done a good-enough job of that.”
One thing in common among the playoff teams is that they have strong quarterback play.
Former Georgia standout Matthew Stafford has won a Super Bowl with the Rams. Jalen Hurts has taken the Eagles to a Super Bowl. Detroit’s Jared Goff has taken the Rams to the Super Bowl. Green Bay’s Jordan Love won a playoff game on the road last season in his first season as a starter. Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield has won in the playoffs in the AFC and NFC. Daniels and Darnold will be making their postseason debuts.
The Falcons are hoping that quarterback Michael Penix Jr. can revive the franchise and return them to the playoffs and title-contender status.
“There clearly are things that we are proud of,” Fontenot said. “Look at offensively, the percentage, I want to say 70% of our offensive production (came) from players below the age of 25. That’s the best in the league. There are a lot of good things to point to.”
The Falcons also will look at the lines and study the pass rushers. The Falcons were at the bottom of the NFL in rushing the passer again last season.
“We always invest up front,” Fontenot said. “We also invest in the offensive line whether we are extending players, drafting players or bringing players back or drafting players on the (offensive) line and (defensive) line.”
But the Falcons know there is still a lot of work not only to return to the playoffs, but transform the team into a legitimate NFC title contender.
“There are positives in a number of areas, but ultimately, we haven’t won enough,” Fontenot said. “That’s what we have to do. We have to look at every aspect of everything we are doing. Everybody has to take a humble approach because the most important stat is wins and losses. We can point to anything positive that we want to, but at the end of the day we (must) win more games.
The Falcons will study and evaluate their roster as the first step of the offseason. They’ll scout players at the Senior Bowl, which is set for Feb. 1 in Mobile, Alabama.
The internal draft scouting meetings are set for February followed by the NFL scouting combine. Free agency follows in March, with the draft in April.
“It’s a critical offseason for all of us,’ Fontenot said.
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