Falcons in Freefall: How Atlanta Went from Contenders to Crisis Mode
Back in early October, the Atlanta Falcons looked like a team finally ready to turn the corner. They were 3-2, fresh off a gutsy Monday night win over the Bills, and had just navigated a brutal early-season schedule. There was real momentum, and for a moment, the vision Atlanta had been selling - playoffs, progress, and purpose - felt tangible.
Fast forward to now, and the picture couldn’t be more different. At 4-8, the Falcons are spiraling, and not just in the standings.
They’ve dropped games to the Dolphins, Jets, and been swept by the Panthers - a team still trying to find its footing. The losses aren’t just piling up; they’re getting harder to explain.
And the bigger question looming over Flowery Branch is this: Can Raheem Morris survive this collapse?
Let’s rewind for a second. When Morris took over, the message was clear - this team was done rebuilding.
After an eight-win season in 2024, the Falcons didn’t just talk playoffs - they acted like a team ready to make the leap. They traded back into the first round of the 2025 draft, giving up a 2026 first-rounder in the process.
The front office saw a wide-open NFC South and believed they were one or two moves away from taking control of it.
And honestly, you could see the logic. The division was there for the taking.
But now, with just one win in their last seven games, Atlanta’s season has unraveled. The optimism is gone.
What’s left is a team that looks lost - and a franchise that may be facing some hard decisions.
Owner Arthur Blank has never been known for quick-trigger firings. If anything, he’s been patient to a fault, especially with coaches and executives he believes in personally.
Morris is well-liked inside the building, no question. But likability doesn’t win football games.
And with a 33-55 career record between his time in Tampa Bay and Atlanta, the results just haven’t followed the relationships.
Blank might’ve been able to stomach a middling season - say, 8-9 and just missing the playoffs - especially with a young quarterback developing behind the scenes. What he can’t stomach?
Embarrassment. And right now, the Falcons aren’t just losing - they’re irrelevant.
That’s a different kind of failure.
Part of the problem is how Atlanta has tried to thread the needle between winning now and building for the future. The decision to sign Kirk Cousins to a $180 million deal, then spend a first-round pick on Michael Penix Jr. just weeks later, was bold - maybe even visionary if it worked.
No team had ever tried to solve both the present and future at quarterback in quite that way. But so far, it’s backfired.
Cousins hasn’t been the answer. Penix hasn’t seen the field.
And the Falcons are stuck with no clear direction under center - and no first-round pick next year to help fix it.
That’s the harsh reality facing GM Terry Fontenot and the rest of the front office. They bet big on a unique strategy, and right now, it looks like a swing and a miss.
The Falcons don’t just have one of the worst records in the league - they’re also one of the hardest teams to watch. The offense lacks rhythm, the defense can’t get stops when it matters, and the overall identity of this team is murky at best.
None of this is entirely on Raheem Morris. But when a team collapses this dramatically, the head coach is always going to bear the brunt of the fallout. And unless something drastic changes over the final few weeks of the season, it’s hard to see how this doesn’t end with a full reset - from the sideline to the front office.
The Falcons entered 2025 thinking they were on the cusp of something special. Instead, they’ve become the cautionary tale of how fast things can fall apart in the NFL.