# 1985 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1985 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise’s 20th season in the National Football League (NFL). They finished last in the NFC West with a record of four wins and twelve losses.
This season marked the first time since 1972 that the Falcons played the Kansas City Chiefs, and merely the second in team history. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season. They were provisionally scheduled to play in 1976, but that game was scrapped to make room for games against the newly formed Buccaneers and Seahawks, and actually scheduled to play in 1982, but that game was cancelled by a player's strike.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1985 Atlanta Falcons draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 2 | Bill Fralic * | Guard | Pittsburgh |
| 2 | 45 | Mike Gann | Defensive end | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 89 | Emile Harry | Wide receiver | Stanford |
| 6 | 152 | Reggie Pleasant | Defensive back | Clemson |
| 8 | 201 | Ashley Lee | Defensive back | Virginia Tech |
| 8 | 215 | Ronnie Washington | Linebacker | Northeast Louisiana |
| 9 | 228 | Micah Moon | Linebacker | North Carolina |
| 10 | 257 | Brent Martin | Center | Stanford |
| 11 | 284 | John Ayres | Defensive back | Illinois |
| 12 | 313 | Ken Whisenhunt | Tight end | Georgia Tech |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 8 | Detroit Lions | L 27–28 | 0–1 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 37,785 | Recap |
| 2 | September 15 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 16–35 | 0–2 | Candlestick Park | 58,923 | Recap |
| 3 | September 22 | Denver Broncos | L 28–44 | 0–3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 37,903 | Recap |
| 4 | September 29 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 6–17 | 0–4 | Anaheim Stadium | 49,870 | Recap |
| 5 | October 6 | San Francisco 49ers | L 17–38 | 0–5 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 44,740 | Recap |
| 6 | October 13 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 26–30 | 0–6 | Kingdome | 60,430 | Recap |
| 7 | October 20 | New Orleans Saints | W 31–24 | 1–6 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 44,784 | Recap |
| 8 | October 27 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 10–24 | 1–7 | Texas Stadium | 57,941 | Recap |
| 9 | November 3 | Washington Redskins | L 10–44 | 1–8 | Atlanta–Fulton County Coliseum | 42,209 | Recap |
| 10 | November 10 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 17–23 | 1–9 | Veterans Stadium | 63,694 | Recap |
| 11 | November 17 | Los Angeles Rams | W 30–14 | 2–9 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 29,960 | Recap |
| 12 | November 24 | at Chicago Bears | L 0–36 | 2–10 | Soldier Field | 61,769 | Recap |
| 13 | December 1 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 24–43 | 2–11 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 20,858 | Recap |
| 14 | December 8 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–38 | 2–12 | Arrowhead Stadium | 18,199 | Recap |
| 15 | December 15 | Minnesota Vikings | W 14–13 | 3–12 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 14,167 | Recap |
| 16 | December 22 | at New Orleans Saints | W 16–10 | 4–12 | Louisiana Superdome | 37,717 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Falcons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| • Eagles | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 23 |

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(2)}$ | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 3–3 | 8–4 | 340 | 277 | L1 |
| San Francisco 49ers$^{(5)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 411 | 263 | W2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 294 | 401 | L3 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 282 | 452 | W2 |

## Awards and records

* Bill Fralic, Sports Illustrated NFL Rookie of the Year.