| Team: | Atlanta Falcons |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Record: | 6–10 |
| Division Place: | 3rd NFC South |
| Coach: | Mike Smith |
| Owner: | Arthur Blank |
| General Manager: | Thomas Dimitroff |
| Stadium: | Georgia Dome |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers: | WR/RS Devin Hester WR Julio Jones QB Matt Ryan |
| Shortnavlink: | Falcons seasons |
The Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 49th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the seventh and final under head coach Mike Smith. The Falcons were defeated by the Carolina Panthers in week 17, officially eliminating them from postseason contention for the second straight year.[1] As a result, Smith was fired after his seventh year as head coach, after two straight years with a losing record.[2]
The 2014 Atlanta Falcons were featured on the HBO documentary series Hard Knocks.[3]
As of 2022, the only member of the 2014 squad still a Falcon is Jake Matthews.
See main article: 2014 NFL draft.
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Texas A&M | |||
| 2 | 37 | Minnesota | ||
| 3 | 68 | Wisconsin | ||
| 4 | 103 | Florida State | ||
| Notre Dame | ||||
| 5 | 147 | Purdue | ||
| 168 | Syracuse | |||
| 6 | None — see below | |||
| 7 | Connecticut | |||
| South Dakota |
| Compensatory selection |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 8 | Miami Dolphins | W 16–10 | 1–0 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 2 | August 16 | at Houston Texans | L 7–32 | 1–1 | NRG Stadium | Recap | |
| 3 | August 23 | Tennessee Titans | L 17–24 | 1–2 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 4 | August 28 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | W 24–14 | 2–2 | EverBank Field | Recap |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 7 | New Orleans Saints | W 37–34 | 1–0 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 2 | September 14 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–24 | 1–1 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap | |
| 3 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 56–14 | 2–1 | Georgia Dome | Recap | ||
| 4 | September 28 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 28–41 | 2–2 | TCF Bank Stadium | Recap | |
| 5 | October 5 | at New York Giants | L 20–30 | 2–3 | MetLife Stadium | Recap | |
| 6 | October 12 | Chicago Bears | L 13–27 | 2–4 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 7 | October 19 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 7–29 | 2–5 | M&T Bank Stadium | Recap | |
| 8 | October 26 | Detroit Lions | L 21–22 | 2–6 | Recap | ||
| 9 | Bye | ||||||
| 10 | November 9 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 27–17 | 3–6 | Raymond James Stadium | Recap | |
| 11 | November 16 | at Carolina Panthers | W 19–17 | 4–6 | Bank of America Stadium | Recap | |
| 12 | November 23 | Cleveland Browns | L 24–26 | 4–7 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 13 | November 30 | Arizona Cardinals | W 29–18 | 5–7 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 14 | at Green Bay Packers | L 37–43 | 5–8 | Lambeau Field | Recap | ||
| 15 | December 14 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 20–27 | 5–9 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
| 16 | December 21 | at New Orleans Saints | W 30–14 | 6–9 | Mercedes-Benz Superdome | Recap | |
| 17 | December 28 | Carolina Panthers | L 3–34 | 6–10 | Georgia Dome | Recap | |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
In this game, Devin Hester would break Deion Sanders's all-time record for punt/kick returns for touchdowns, with 20.[4]
This was the Falcons' only win outside the NFC South division.
The Falcons were the only NFC South team to lose to all of their AFC North opponents.
With the win, the Falcons swept the Saints for the 1st time since 2005 and eliminated them from postseason contention.
Shortly after the end of the post-season the Falcons were investigated by the League for piping artificial crowd noise during opponent's offensive snaps at home games during the 2013 season and the 2014 season.[5] Team owner Arthur Blank stated that he was "angry and embarrassed" about the allegations, and has allegedly acknowledged the validity of the accusations, stating "I think what we've done in 2013 and 2014 was wrong", and promising to cooperate fully with the investigation.[6] The NFL fined the Falcons $350,000 and took away a fifth round draft pick in the 2016 draft as punishment.[7]