# 1999 Atlanta Falcons season

The 1999 season was the Atlanta Falcons' 34th in the National Football League (NFL). They finished with a 5–11 record, some way short of the 14–2 record they managed in the previous season, and failed to reach the playoffs, which meant they would not be the first team to play in the Super Bowl at their own stadium. The Falcons and their Super Bowl XXXIII opponent, the Denver Broncos, managed an aggregate 11–21 record between them; it was the worst combined record by two teams the year after they reached the Super Bowl until the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003.
The season saw star running back Jamal Anderson hurt his knee in Week 2 and be subsequently placed on injured reserve, ending his season and any hope of the Falcons matching their 1998 form. The injury that Anderson suffered was career-threatening.

## Offseason
### Free agents

| Position | Player | Free agency tag | 1999 team |
| DB | Darren Anderson | UFA | |
| DB | Ronnie Bradford | UFA | Atlanta Falcons |
| DE | John Burrough | UFA | Minnesota Vikings |
| DB | Devin Bush | UFA | St. Louis Rams |
| QB | Steve DeBerg | UFA | Retired |
| DE | Antonio Edwards | UFA | Carolina Panthers |
| WR | Ronnie Harris | UFA | Atlanta Falcons |
| WR | Todd Kinchen | UFA | Carolina Panthers |
| C | Adam Schreiber | UFA | Atlanta Falcons |
| LB | Ben Talley | RFA | Atlanta Falcons |
| DE | Esera Tuaolo | UFA | Carolina Panthers |
| DB | William White | UFA |
| Additions | Subtractions |
| G Greg Bishop (Giants) | LB Cornelius Bennett (Colts) |
| WR Chris Calloway (Giants) | WR Tony Martin (Dolphins) |
| S Marty Carter (Bears) | |
| QB Danny Kanell (Giants) | |
| S Gerald McBurrows (Rams) | |
| LB Pellom McDaniels (Chiefs) | |

### NFL draft

1999 Atlanta Falcons draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 30 | Patrick Kerney * | Defensive end | Virginia |
| 2 | 42 | Reggie Kelly * | Tight end | Mississippi State |
| 3 | 92 | Jeff Paulk | Fullback | Arizona State |
| 4 | 126 | Johndale Carty | Defensive back | Utah State |
| 5 | 164 | Eugene Baker | Wide receiver | Kent State |
| 6 | 198 | Jeff Kelly | Linebacker | Kansas State |
| 6 | 200 | Eric Thigpen | Defensive back | Iowa |
| 7 | 237 | Todd McClure | Center | LSU |
| 7 | 247 | Rondel Menendez | Wide receiver | Eastern Kentucky |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | TV | Attendance |
| 1 | September 12 | Minnesota Vikings | L 14–17 | 0–1 | Georgia Dome | Pat Summerall, John Madden, D.J. Johnson | 69,555 |
| 2 | September 20 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 7–24 | 0–2 | Texas Stadium | Al Michaels, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser | 63,663 |
| 3 | September 26 | at St. Louis Rams | L 7–35 | 0–3 | Trans World Dome | Kenny Albert, Tim Green, Pete Peterson | 63,253 |
| 4 | October 3 | Baltimore Ravens | L 13–19 (OT) | 0–4 | Georgia Dome | Pat Summerall, John Madden, D.J. Johnson | 50,712 |
| 5 | October 10 | at New Orleans Saints | W 20–17 | 1–4 | Louisiana Superdome | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, Jim Gallagher | 57,289 |
| 6 | October 17 | St. Louis Rams | L 13–41 | 1–5 | Georgia Dome | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, Mike Goldberg | 51,973 |
| 7 | October 25 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 9–13 | 1–6 | Three Rivers Stadium | Al Michaels, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser | 58,141 |
| 8 | October 31 | Carolina Panthers | W 27–20 | 2–6 | Georgia Dome | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, Mike Goldberg | 52,594 |
| 9 | November 7 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 7–30 | 2–7 | Georgia Dome | Gus Johnson, Brent Jones, Marcus Allen | 68,466 |
| 10 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 11 | November 21 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 10–19 | 2–8 | Raymond James Stadium | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, Chip Carter | 65,158 |
| 12 | November 28 | at Carolina Panthers | L 28–34 | 2–9 | Ericcson Stadium | Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, Solomon Wilcots | 55,507 |
| 13 | December 5 | New Orleans Saints | W 35–12 | 3–9 | Georgia Dome | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, Jim Gallagher | 62,568 |
| 14 | December 12 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 7–26 | 3–10 | 3Com Park | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, Brian Webber | 67,465 |
| 15 | December 19 | at Tennessee Titans | L 14–30 | 3–11 | Adelphia Coliseum | Kenny Albert, Tim Green, Mike Ferreri | 66,196 |
| 16 | December 26 | Arizona Cardinals | W 37–14 | 4–11 | Georgia Dome | Curt Menefee, Brian Baldinger, Kevin McCabe | 47,074 |
| 17 | January 3 | San Francisco 49ers | W 34–29 | 5–11 | Georgia Dome | Al Michaels, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser | 57,980 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||||

## Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ St. Louis Rams | 13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 526 | 242 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 421 | 381 | W1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 285 | 380 | W2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 295 | 453 | L3 |
| New Orleans Saints | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 260 | 434 | L1 |