What a year it was.
There are no quiet years in Atlanta Falcons history, not with this team’s roller coaster ride of hope and sheer ineptitude. Even in that long history, though, 2024 stands out as one of the busier and wilder calendar years for the franchise, especially this spring.
In 2024, the Falcons fired a head coach, briefly flirted with an aging all-time great to replace him, and wound up bringing on a familiar face. They added not one but two starting-caliber quarterbacks, pulled off a late trade for a pass rusher and signed the biggest safety name on the market, and have endured an up-and-down season. As we brace for Week 18 and welcome a new year we hope will prove more fruitful for Atlanta, here’s a look back.
January
On the eighth day of the new year, the Falcons fired Arthur Smith. The arguments for keeping him ultimately did not sway Arthur Blank, who was reportedly conflicted about the decision. The instant he was fired, of course, we jumped into the next part of the offseason.
January was a month of tumult, with the Falcons unable to keep a lid on their initial strong interest in the recently fired Bill Belichick. The team’s flirtation with the legendary coach who had bottomed out in recent years in New England was evident by the time they officially interviewed him, with reports swirling that Belichick was confident he’d get the job and Blank was enamored with the idea of bringing him on. Then things changed rapidly.
While Kevin Knight looked at why the Falcons might hire Belichick, the team was vetting other candidates and apparently getting cold feet on the living legend, who was likely hoping to bring in his people and exercise personnel control teams were clearly wary of. The Falcons kept working their way through a long list of candidates that included Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and Jim Harbaugh, and with Harbaugh landing with the Chargers, the Falcons scooped up Rams defensive coordinator and former interim head coach Raheem Morris.
The fallout from that has not stopped, with every Morris miscue prompting scrutiny and some should-have-hired-Belichick grumbling despite Bill striking out with the rest of the NFL and landing at the University of North Carolina. That’ll probably continue for a long time.
February
Freshly hired and with Terry Fontenot staying on as the general manager, Morris set about building a staff light on NFL experience and heavy on promise. That included offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, a pair of Rams assistants, though Morris did retain excellent special teams coordinator Marquice Williams.
Atlanta’s focus then inevitably turned to quarterback, which meant the next big round of rumors. After cutting ties with Jonnu Smith to free up cap space and earning a brutal 25th overall in the NFL Players’ Association franchise rankings (mostly owing to facilities the Falcons have been working to upgrade), the Falcons were persistently linked to trade candidate and former Bears quarterback Justin Fields. The rumors linking them to Kirk Cousins cropped up a little bit later and were less intense initially, but March brought more news.
March
The Falcons completed some no-brainer re-signings, including Ryan Neuzil and Nate Landman, The Cousins rumors were amping up at this point, so it was not really stunning that they actually landed the established 36-year-old passer coming off an Achilles injury. The big bet was that Cousins would be healthy enough to approach the form that got him some Pro Bowl and even MVP buzz in the early part of 2023, and unfortunately we would learn that wasn’t to be. The NFL also announced they would be investigated for tampering after eternal Boy Scout Cousins cheerfully talked about how great the training staff and the like was with the Falcons, accidentally revealing premature contact before the legal tampering period.
The team further added to their offense by signing tight end Charlie Woerner, receiver Darnell Mooney, receiver and returner Ray-Ray McCloud, and traded Desmond Ridder for speedy receiver Rondale Moore. They were extremely quiet on the defensive side of the ball, however, which sparked plenty of speculation that they’d be looking for a top pass rusher in the draft.
April
The Falcons started stocking defensive depth in April. Incredibly, Eddie Goldman unretired again and the team added veteran cornerback Antonio Hamilton, who would turn out to be a reserve. This is also when we got wind of the team’s interest in Michael Penix after they turned out for his workout, when I confidently predicted they’d chase him in the draft but dismissed the idea that they’d do so in the top ten picks. The team would subsequently add defensive back and special teamer Kevin King and defensive lineman James-Smith Williams.
We were buzzing about draft scenarios all month, with a brief break to appreciate Falcons legend Matt Ryan after he announced his retirement. Then we got to the draft and a shocking thing happened.
That would be the selection of Penix at No. 8, a selection that surprised Kirk Cousins and Falcons fans alike. The team simply fell in love with the rookie passer and wanted a long-term succession plan for Cousins, something Arthur Blank reportedly asked for, and then tried to get back into the first round for an edge rusher but failed to do so. The team then hit defense hard with Ruke Orhorhoro, Bralen Trice, Brandon Dorlus, and JD Bertrand over their next four selections, finishing things up with receiver Casey Washington, running back Jase McClellan, and inevitable late Georgia pick Zion Logue at defensive tackle. People weren’t huge fans of the class, but it was hard not to be excited about this team in the face of so much head-swirling change.
May
The Falcons did not get any compensatory 2025 picks, but we were busy talking 2024. The team made a number of minor signings, with Ross Dwelley at tight end being the biggest name. We also learned the team would have four primetime games, which would later turn into five, and a schedule that was projected to be pretty easy.
June
Organized team activities came and went, and we absorbed that and minicamp while the Falcons were found guilty of tampering and docked a 2025 5th round pick. Otherwise we were doing what we always do in June: Relaxing a little bit and speculating wildly about what was ahead.
July
While Evan Birchfield broke down fantasy sleepers, Tre’Shon Diaz was asking a prescient question: Could the Falcons trust Younghoe Koo in 2024?
Training camp brought the hype we all show up for year after year, from big catches to an intensive watch on Kirk Cousins’ mobility. We saw the passers thriving, the defense finding footing, and plenty of reasons to be optimistic if you were searching for them.
August
This month brought the first concrete signs of trouble for this season, assuming you weren’t still grumbling about the Penix pick and Morris hire. The Falcons lost Rondale Moore in a joint practice with Miami, lost DeMarcco Hellams for what would turn out to be the season in their preseason game with the Dolphins, and then lost Bralen Trice for the season. That cost the team their third safety and a major contributor on the EDGE, and to their credit, they sought to address that quickly.
The Falcons swapped a 2025 third round pick for Patriots pass rusher Matthew Judon and then added safety Justin Simmons, seeking to keep a competitive season afloat. The rest of preseason was spent arguing heatedly over whether the Falcons were making the right decision parking starters and Michael Penix aside from one appearance. The team also gave A.J. Terrell a huge contract extension before finalizing their 53 man roster. The team also flipped quarterback Taylor Heinicke to the Chargers for a conditional sixth round pick.
September
The team invited immediate controversy by sitting rookies, including Ruke Orhorhoro and Brandon Dorlus, ahead of Week 1. A woeful performance from the offense got the season off to a rocky start in a loss to the Steelers, with fresh questions about how healthy Kirk Cousins was.
Zac Robinson could adjust, and Cousins caught fire late in Week 2 to carry the Falcons to a thrilling victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. After the team narrowly lost to the Chiefs, they were 1-2 but had done enough defensively and had shown just enough growth on offense to believe good things were on the way.
That feeling only grew after a sloppy but successful win over the Saints, one sparked by a fine day from the defense and special teams. At 2-2 and with Koo hitting a tremendous kick to win it, the Falcons were heading into Kirktober on a high note.
October
The Falcons inducted Matt Ryan into their Ring of Honor and made the game count, knocking off the Buccaneers behind a tremendous game from Cousins. Now 3-2, the Falcons lost Micah Abernathy and continued on without an injured Troy Andersen but knocked off the Panthers to move to 4-2 the next week. The team’s sloppy mistakes on the defensive side of the ball and occasional errors on offense couldn’t take away from their burgeoning success, but a crushing loss to the Seahawks that would foreshadow troubles to come could. We saw Penix take over late from a struggling Cousins in that one as the Falcons moved to 4-3 and appeared not quite ready for primetime.
While they flirted with disaster in their next game, they knocked off the Buccaneers again to move to 5-3, with Cousins once again dominating the Tampa Bay secondary. Kirktober ended with the Falcons winning three games and losing just one, and with Cousins having such success against Tampa Bay, the hope was that he could keep it rolling into November.
November
A win over the scuffling Cowboys appeared to be the victory that would propel the Falcons to the top of the NFC South, as they were 6-3 and well ahead of the struggling Buccaneers. All appeared to be well, right until it wasn’t.
The Falcons endured a nightmare loss to the Saints, with the offense having a hard time, the defense allowing embarrassing big plays, and special teams breaking down. That dropped them to 6-4 and gave them their first loss of 2024 against the NFC South. They followed that up with an absolute stomping at the hooves of the Broncos, with Cousins struggling again and the defense continuing to fall apart to leave the team 6-5. They headed into the bye needing to find a way to reverse their slide heading into the next month.
December
Rested, the Falcons came out of the bye with a defensive masterclass, completely shutting down the Chargers en route to what should have been a win. Instead, Cousins continued his slow motion collapse and threw four interceptions (nearly five) and cost the Falcons the game almost single-handedly. For the first time, I wrote that we might see Penix in 2024.
That hardened into near-certainty after a slightly improved Cousins and a defense victimized by explosive plays lost to the Minnesota Vikings, dropping the team to 6-7 after they had been 6-3. They then belatedly placed Troy Andersen on injured reserve and knocked off the Raiders in primetime in a game that was won by the defense (despite a late Hail Mary opportunity for the Raiders to win) while Cousins looked perhaps less decisive and capable than he had all season. The Falcons were 7-7 and had a decision to make.
They did not wait long. The team swiftly moved to Michael Penix as their starter, setting up a messy offseason divorce with Cousins and ushering in a new era much sooner than they had hoped to. With a struggling Koo headed to injured reserve, the team made a pair of moves some fans viewed as too little, too late. Despite that, the anticipation for Penix ran high, and then he played a stellar first game against the woeful Giants to move Atlanta to 8-7.
With the Washington Commanders game flexed to primetime and the Falcons on top of the division, they had their opportunity to close out the calendar year with their bigges victory in years. Instead, unimaginable timeout bungling from Raheem Morris, a handful of Michael Penix misses, and a lousy day from the defense working against Jayden Daniels and Olamide Zaccheaus conspired for a heartbreaking overtime loss to drop the Falcons to 8-8 and behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers again.
That’s where we stand today, with one game to go against the Carolina Panthers in the new year and a vanishingly thin hope that a win there and a Buccaneers loss to the Saints might propel Atlanta into the playoffs. They end 2024 with a new franchise quarterback and plenty of questions about what they’ll do to improve next season with another campaign that started off with so much promise and appears set to end with improved results that still will fall short of expectations.