Falcons Weekly Release - Bengals Home

WING TIPS
The Falcons were among the 3RD DOWN CONVERSIONS
NFL’s best teams in terms of Team Att. Conv. Eff.
third-down conversions last New England 226 110 48.7
season. Atlanta converted Atlanta 204 92 45.1
45.1 percent of its third Denver 213 96 45.1
downs, which ranked second New Orleans 207 91 44.0
in the NFL in 2012. Dallas 212 93 43.9
The Falcons were successful in
moving the chains, notching 343
first downs, including 70 on the
ground, 247 through the air and 26
by penalty last season. The Birds’
21.4 first downs per game ranked
sixth in the NFL. This success in
extending drives has led Atlanta to
a 40-14 record when they record
20-or-more first downs. The Falcons notched a seasonhigh
28 first downs in a Week 5 win at Washington.
Falcons Head Coach Mike
Smith coaches his players
to play right on the edge but
to remain disciplined. That
controlled approach has led
Smith’s teams to rank in the
top 10 in terms of fewest
penalties in each of his five
MOVING THE CHAINS
FLAG FREE
FIRST DOWNS
Team 1st/G
New England 27.8
Detroit 23.9
Denver 23.8
Indianapolis 22.5
New Orleans 22.0
Atlanta 21.4
FEWEST PENALTIES
Team
Year Pen.
Atlanta 2012 55
New England 2008 57
Atlanta 2010 58
Seattle 2007 59
New Orleans 1992 60
seasons in Atlanta. In 2012, the Falcons set an NFL record
for the fewest accepted penalties in a 16 game season. The
Falcons own two of the top five performances in NFL history
terms of penalties.
In 2012, Atlanta also posted PENALTY YARDS
an NFL record for the fewest Team
Year Pen.
penalty yards in a 16 game Atlanta 2012 415
season. The Falcons 415 penalty
yards topped Seattle’s New England 1993 468
Seattle 2007 428
League record of 428 yards Denver 2006 478
set in 2007.
Arizona 1999 481
CLOSE SHAVE
Since 2008, the Falcons have
been one of the best teams in
the NFL in close games, leading
the League with a .707 winning
percentage in games decided
by eight points or less, including
a 23-19 win over the Arizona
Cardinals in Week 11. During
CLOSE GAMES
Team W-L Pct.
Atlanta 29-12 .707
Indianapolis 31-13 .705
NY Giants 21-13 .618
Pittsburgh 28-19 .596
Denver 22-16 .579
that span, Atlanta has also posted a 12-5 record in games
determined by a field goal or less, including a 30-28 comefrom-behind
win over Carolina in Week 4, a 23-20 win over
the Oakland Raiders in Week 6 and a 24-23 win at Tampa
Bay in Week 12.
2012 NFL RANKINGS
Offensive Rankings - 2012 week by week
Total Rush Pass NFC NFL
Week 1 (after KC) 376.0 84.0 292.0 8-9-6 12-16-7
Week 2 (after Den) 325.5 75.5 250.0 11-14t-8 21-26t-12
Week 3 (after SD) 345.0 90.0 255.0 8-13-7 19-25-15
Week 4 (after Car) 365.3 97.8 267.0 7-8-5 15-18-10
Week 5 (after Was) 376.4 94.8 281.6 7-10-5 12-21-7
Week 6 (after Oak) 361.3 86.5 274.8 8-15-5 15-25-10
Week 7 (after BYE) 361.3 86.5 274.8 8-15-5 13-29-8
Week 8 (after Phi) 365.7 95.0 270.7 7-12-5 13-24-8
Week 9 (after Dal) 376.6 98.5 278.1 5-13-4 8-25-8
Week 10 (after NO) 385.2 92.7 292.6 3-13-3 6-26-4
Week 11 (after Ari) 382.1 89.2 292.9 3-14-3 7-28-3
Week 12 (after TB) 385.9 88.3 297.6 2-14-2 6-28-2
Week 13 (after NO) 377.3 91.3 286.1 5-14-4 9-28-4
Week 14 (after Car) 376.2 86.9 289.2 4-14-4 8-28-4
Week 15 (after NY) 377.4 89.9 287.5 4-14-4 7-28-5
Week 16 (after Det) 375.2 88.8 286.4 5-14-4 7-28-5
Week 17 (after TB) 369.1 87.3 281.8 5-14-4 8-29-6
Defensive Rankings - 2012 week by week
Total Rush Pass NFC NFL
Week 1 (after KC) 393.0 152.0 241.0 13-14-8 23-24-13
Week 2 (after Den) 364.5 135.0 229.5 10-13-9 17-25-15
Week 3 (after SD) 336.3 128.7 207.7 9-13-6 13-24-8
Week 4 (after Car) 353.3 146.3 207.0 10-15-6 15-29-9
Week 5 (after Was) 345.8 142.8 203.0 11-15-4 17-27-7
Week 6 (after Oak) 367.2 143.8 223.3 12-15-6 21-27-11
Week 7 (after BYE) 367.2 143.8 223.3 12-15-7 22-28-12
Week 8 (after Phi) 353.3 136.4 216.9 12-15-5 20-26-10
Week 9 (after Dal) 356.3 127.5 228.8 12-15-8 19-24-14
Week 10 (after NO) 365.6 129.8 235.8 12-15-11 20-25-19
Week 11 (after Ari) 346.8 130.5 216.3 11-15-6 18-26-10
Week 12 (after TB) 344.9 123.2 221.7 10-14-7 15-23-12
Week 13 (after NO) 352.5 121.3 231.2 11-12-9 18-20-15
Week 14 (after Car) 361.9 127.0 234.9 12-14-10 20-23t-16
Week 15 (after NY) 354.4 124.9 229.5 11-14-11 19-24-17
Week 16 (after Det) 365.5 121.8 243.7 12-12-11 23-20t-23
Week 17 (after TB) 365.6 123.2 242.4 12-11-11 24-21-23
IT’S ALL ABOUT POINTS
In 2012, the Falcons were one of two teams in the NFL to
rank in the top seven in both scoring offense and scoring
defense. Atlanta averaged 26.2 points per game last
season, which ranked seventh in the NFL. Defensively, the
Birds allowed 18.7 points per game, which was the fifthbest
mark in League.
2012 NFL SCORING BREAKDOWN
Scoring Offense Scoring Defense
Team Pts./G
New England 34.8
Denver 30.1
New Orleans 28.8
Washington 27.3
Green Bay 27.1
NY Giants 26.8
Atlanta 26.2
Team Pts./G
Seattle 15.3
San Francisco 17.1
Chicago 17.3
Denver 18.1
Atlanta 18.7
Pittsburgh 19.6
Miami 19.8