Anti-Dynasty #22: 1983-97 Atlanta Falcons

Peak Anti-Dynasty Points: 53
Record: 86-152-1 (.362)
Average DVOA: -10.6%
Bottom-Five DVOA: -25.3%
One last-place finish in the NFL; Three last-place finishes in the NFC; Nine last-place finishes in the NFC West
Head Coaches: Dan Henning, Marion Campbell, Jim Hanifan, Jerry Glanville, June Jones, Dan Reeves
Key Players: QB Chris Miller, QB Jeff George, RB Gerald Riggs, WR Andre Rison, WR Michael Haynes, WR Terence Mathis, WR Bert Emanuel, T Mike Kenn, T Bob Whitfield, G Bill Fralic, G John Scully, C Jamie Dukes, DE Mike Gann, DT Rick Bryan, DT Moe Gardner, LB Jessie Tuggle, LB John Rade, CB Deion Sanders, CB Bobby Butler, DB Scott Case
Z-Score: 0.60

Fitting for a team from the 1990s, we can split these Atlanta teams into Falcons Red and Falcons Black.

The 1983-1989 Falcons, decked out in their classic red jerseys and helmets, were consistently bad football teams, recording negative DVOAs in five of their seven seasons. We’re talking ugly seasons behind Mike Moroski, Steve Bartkowski, and David Archer; injuries to star running back William Andrews; a defense that never finished in the top half of the league. Things bottomed out in 1987 as the Falcons stumbled to 3-12. Yes, three of those games were from replacement players, but the strike Falcons and regular Falcons had near-identical VOAs, and you could make a decent argument that the replacement Falcons defense was sturdier in the front seven than the so-called professionals; they just had 11 sacks in 12 non-strike games. Their offense was the worst in the league, the only time Atlanta has ever had that distinction. First-round pick Chris Miller wouldn't take over until the following year, and starter Scott Campbell had just 11 touchdown passes to go with Miller's one.

This was also the year the Falcons brought back 1970s coach Marion Campbell to right the ship. Campbell was brought in for his defensive prowess, so of course his two 1980s Atlanta teams had two of the worst five defensive DVOAs in Falcons history. Now, Campbell had gone 6-19 in his first stint with Atlanta, so the theory must have been, in part, that he couldn't do much worse; he went 11-32 in attempt No. 2. Add in Campbell's stint with Philadelphia, and he ended up 46 games under .500 for his career, the worst record for any head coach in NFL history.

The 1990-1997 Falcons, decked out in their trendy black jerseys and helmets, were inconsistently bad football teams. To end an Anti-Dynasty, a team needs either consecutive non-losing seasons, or one season with a massive win total to zero everything out. Well, the Falcons had no back-to-back winning seasons between their founding in 1966 and Matt Ryan's first two years in 2008 and 2009. Every bit of success they had in the 20th century was just a brief flash, nothing sustainable.

Because they couldn't put together multiple seasons of success, this Falcons run includes the 2 Legit 2 Quit Falcons of 1991, with Deion Sanders, Andre Rison, Jerry Glanville, and company romping their way to the playoffs and picking up Atlanta's first postseason win since 1978. It includes Jeff George running June Jones' run 'n' shoot offense to the playoffs in 1995, where they lost to Green Bay and Brett Favre. The Falcons, of course, had drafted Favre, but Glanville got him traded out of town thanks to Favre's immaturity and apparent quest to "drink up Atlanta."

But it also includes years of uninspired, six- and seven-win football, and a playoff splash or two every four years isn't enough to overcome the general malaise and historic lack of success the franchise had. It took the 14-2 Dirty Bird Falcons making it all the way to Super Bowl XXXIII to finally put this one to bed.