# 1989 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1989 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise’s 24th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons drafted Deion Sanders with their first round pick in the NFL Draft. Marion Campbell retired after the twelfth game of the season.
Despite having Sanders in their defensive backfield, the Falcons surrendered 7.59 yards per pass attempt (including quarterback sacks) in 1989, one of the ten worst totals in NFL history.
The latter part of the season was marred by two tragedies. On November 24, rookie offensive tackle Ralph Norwood was killed in an automobile accident eight miles from the Falcons’ training facilities. Just under a month later, on December 19, backup tight end Brad Beckman was also killed in an auto accident. It marked the death of three players of the team in the space of two seasons (the previous year, cornerback David Croudip died of an overdose).

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1989 Atlanta Falcons draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 5 | Deion Sanders * $^†$ | Cornerback | Florida State |
| 1 | 27 | Shawn Collins | Wide receiver | Northern Arizona |
| 2 | 38 | Ralph Norwood | Offensive tackle | LSU |
| 3 | 62 | Keith Jones | Running back | Illinois |
| 6 | 145 | Troy Sadowski | Tight end | Georgia |
| 7 | 172 | Undra Johnson | Running back | West Virginia |
| 8 | 202 | Paul Singer | Quarterback | Western Illinois |
| 9 | 229 | Chris Dunn | Linebacker | Cal Poly |
| 11 | 286 | Greg Paterra | Running back | Slippery Rock |
| 12 | 313 | Tony Bowick | Defensive tackle | Chattanooga |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1989 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Oscar Angulo | Tight end | Eastern Kentucky |
| Norris Blount | Cornerback | Baylor |
| Deon Booker | Running back | Louisville |
| Ivan Cook | Linebacker | Washington State |
| Tyreese Knox | Running back | Nebraska |
| Steve McMillon | Cornerback | Wyoming |
| Maury Metcalf | Linebacker | Washington State |
| Mark Millett | Tight end | Southwest Texas State |
| Kevin Simien | Wide receiver | Fort Hays State |
| Alonzo Washington | Running back | Arizona |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 10 | Los Angeles Rams | L 21–31 | 0–1 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 38,708 |
| 2 | September 17 | Dallas Cowboys | W 27–21 | 1–1 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 55,285 |
| 3 | September 24 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 9–13 | 1–2 | Hoosier Dome | 57,816 |
| 4 | October 1 | at Green Bay Packers | L 21–23 | 1–3 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,647 |
| 5 | October 8 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 14–26 | 1–4 | Anaheim Stadium | 52,182 |
| 6 | October 15 | New England Patriots | W 16–15 | 2–4 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 39,697 |
| 7 | October 22 | at Phoenix Cardinals | L 20–34 | 2–5 | Sun Devil Stadium | 33,894 |
| 8 | October 29 | at New Orleans Saints | L 13–20 | 2–6 | Louisiana Superdome | 65,153 |
| 9 | November 5 | Buffalo Bills | W 30–28 | 3–6 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 45,267 |
| 10 | November 12 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 3–45 | 3–7 | Candlestick Park | 59,914 |
| 11 | November 19 | New Orleans Saints | L 17–26 | 3–8 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 53,173 |
| 12 | November 26 | at New York Jets | L 7–27 | 3–9 | Giants Stadium | 40,429 |
| 13 | December 3 | San Francisco 49ers | L 10–23 | 3–10 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 43,128 |
| 14 | December 10 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 17–43 | 3–11 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 58,116 |
| 15 | December 17 | Washington Redskins | L 30–31 | 3–12 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 37,501 |
| 16 | December 24 | Detroit Lions | L 24–31 | 3–13 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 7,792 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 7 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| • Falcons | 0 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 30 |
This would be the final win of the season for Atlanta.

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| San Francisco 49ers$^{(1)}$ | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 5–1 | 10–2 | 442 | 253 | W5 |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(5)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 426 | 344 | W2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 5–7 | 386 | 301 | W3 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 0–6 | 1–11 | 279 | 437 | L7 |

## Awards and records

* Shawn Collins, led all NFL rookie wide receivers in receptions (58)

### Milestones

The Falcons drew a franchise-low attendance of 7,792 for their finale, a 31–24 loss to the Detroit Lions on December 24.