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The Falcoholic

Falcons News, Analysis & Tomfoolery For and By Fans

Latest Entries

Can Kevin Stefanski get the Falcons’ QB timeline right?

A major reason behind the failures of previous Atlanta Falcons coaching staffs was their inability to get the team on the right quarterback timeline. Arthur Smith went into a critical make-or-break third season in 2023 with a first-year starter in Desmond Ridder. Raheem Morris did the same in 2025 with Michael Penix after trotting out […]

Falcons outside linebacker review: A great year, a muddled future

It didn’t take long for the good feelings about the Falcons outside linebacker group to curdle. James Pearce Jr.‘s arrested on very serious charges of stalking his ex-girlfriend, ramming her car, and resisting arrest means his future with the team is extremely cloudy just weeks after he finished 2025 with a rookie Falcons record of […]

Falcons cornerback roster review: Plenty of excitement with key decisions to be made

The Falcons’ cornerback group usually left you wanting more in past years. As terrific as A.J. Terrell is, the inability to add an above-average second outside cornerback and the instability at nickel had fans frustrated on a long list of defensive frustrations. Those issues were somewhat alleviated last year with Mike Hughes being solid enough, […]

NFL

Falcons lose DBs coach and assistant head coach Jerry Gray to 49ers

The Atlanta Falcons have seen a pair of assistants on the defensive side of the ball depart, losing passing game coordinator Mike Rutenberg to the Browns and now assistant head coach on the defensive side of the ball Jerry Gray to the 49ers. Rutenberg left to be the defensive coordinator in Cleveland, while Gray will […]

NFL franchise tag: Will the Falcons tag Kyle Pitts?

The Atlanta Falcons rarely use the franchise tag, but this is a new front office and a new era. It’s also the first time in recent memory that a young player is about to hit free agency that would seem to merit the tag. I’m referring, of course, to Kyle Pitts. Fresh off career highs […]

Falcons 2025 defensive line review: Young and hungry

The Falcons are coming off a franchise record-setting season for their pass rush, and the defensive line was a major contributor to that success. While the edge rusher room also took significant strides in 2025, it was actually the interior that made up the bulk of Atlanta’s sack count. That’s quite the turnaround for a […]

Browns hire Falcons defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg as DC

Jeff Ulbrich and most of the defensive staff are back, but not everyone’s staying. The Cleveland Browns are hiring Mike Rutenberg, Atlanta’s 2025 defensive passing game coordinator, as their defensive coordinator. Rutenberg was a key piece of Ulbrich’s staff and had spent each of the past five seasons working with him, both as the linebackers […]

Falcons 2025 linebacker review: Two X factors and a couple of Joes

Divine Deablo and Kaden Elliss were as good as advertised, but their running mates got left in the dust. The Atlanta Falcons made a big bet when they prioritized Deablo at the beginning of the 2025 free agency window and it paid off, but the parlay they had going on the entire room fell short. […]

ESPN predicts Atlanta Falcons win NFC South, Bijan Robinson wins MVP

We aren’t even a full week removed from the Seattle Seahawks putting an exclamation point on a dominating Super Bowl win against the New England Patriots. I think they’re still cleaning some of the debris off the parade route. For ESPN’s NFL experts, Super Bowl LX was only the end of another chapter in the […]

Falcons mock draft 2026: New GM, new approach

The 2025 season has officially concluded, with the Seattle Seahawks thoroughly dominating the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. You love to see it. Other things have also happened in recent weeks, like the Falcons hiring Ian Cunningham as their next general manager and the team continuing to fill out the rest of the […]

Falcons 2025 offensive line review: A mixed bag of blocking

The offensive line was this team’s unquestioned strength from, say, 2022-2024. Last year, we saw signs of cracks forming in that foundation, and change now feels possible with Bill Callahan replacing Dwayne Ledford. But even though one piece changes here and one pieces changes there, and injury took out a key starter, this line’s continuity […]

NFL

Falcons 2025 wide receiver review: Ruin and rubble

Drake London was very good for the Atlanta Falcons in 2025, aside from missing five games. Everything else about the Falcons receiver depth chart was a disaster. Darnell Mooney got hurt, returned, and was a shell of himself all season. Ray-Ray McCloud produced very little and was clearly angered by the team firing wide receivers […]

Falcons free agents 2026: Decision time on Kyle Pitts, Kaden Elliss

With the Super Bowl in the rearview and the new league year just a few short weeks away, it’s time to turn the page and start thinking about the Falcons’ 2026 season and what needs to happen this offseason to field a competitive team in September. James Pearce Jr’s arrest may change the calculations on […]

James Pearce Jr. facing 5 felony charges; Falcons pass rusher released on bond

In deeply disappointing news, Falcons EDGE James Pearce Jr. was arrested on Saturday on domestic violence-related charges. The list of charges is lengthy. Pearce has posted his $20,500 bond and will be released from jail sometime Sunday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Pearce is charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon (domestic […]

Atlanta Falcons Mock Draft 1.0: Bringing the Beef

With the final whistle blown on the 2025–26 NFL season, we have reached one of my favorite times of the year: Mock draft season has officially arrived. Welcome, Atlanta Falcons fans, to the Kevin Stefanski experience. Expect the field to shrink, heavier personnel, and an offense built to dictate terms instead of reacting to them. […]

Falcons tight end roster review: Quality production but uncertainty lingers

Tight end has consistently been a position the Falcons prioritize being a strength of the roster. Other than 2014 and 2015, when Levine Toilolo and Jacob Tamme were starters, they have made the necessary investments to ensure the starting tight end is a difference maker. Kyle Pitts has received many labels in his career. No […]

Falcons 2025 running back review: The burden of greatness

In a year where just about everything went comically wrong for the Falcons, taking them from would-be playoff team to out of the mix in November, the running back position was a bastion of excellence. It’s a virtual certainty it was our final year with Tyler Allgeier in the mix, though blessedly Bijan Robinson will […]

Super Bowl open thread

It’s Patriots and Seahawks, which means there’s no strong rooting interest for Falcons fans unless you particularly hate one of these teams, as I do. But it’s the Super Bowl, and thus we shall be watching. Please us this as your open thread for the game ahead, and then we’ll settle in for a long […]

The Falcoholic Reacts: Is it Seattle’s time?

In one of the most unexpected Super Bowl matchups in recent memory, the consensus expectations are fairly one-sided. The Seahawks have firmly established themselves as one of the NFL’s true elite teams. They have dismantled overmatched opponents and manuevered their way into making pivotal plays in high-leverage situations to beat the league’s best. Despite all […]

Atlanta Falcons news: Ryan Pace departing front office

When Ryan Poles and his assistant general manager Ian Cunningham arrived in Chicago in 2022, they were replacing Ryan Pace, who had been the team’s GM from 2015 to 2021. Now that Cunningham is arriving in Atlanta, Pace is once again headed elsewhere. NFL insider Tom Pelissero reports that vice president of football operations and […]

NFL

Falcons reportedly will release Kirk Cousins before new league year

Surprise, surprise. As I wrote back on January 6, Atlanta’s contract adjustment for Kirk Cousins indicated that they were going to cut him, given that they would have a truly unpalatable cap hit next year if they did not. Now Adam Schefter is reporting that the Falcons are planning to do so before the start […]