Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Their best regular season until 1980. A 9-5 finish all for nothing; no playoff berth. Scored at least 40 pts in four games albeit vs weak clubs, winning their opener at Saints, 62-7. Did split with 12-2 Rams and were the first to beat (9-0) Vikes, not beating a last-undefeated team again until this past season. Home losses in 3rd and 2nd-last games of season to Bills and a bad Cards team respectively is what did them in; especially that Cards loss, stinking it up 10-32.

Anything else to be said about this squad led by Norm Van Brocklin?

The 1973 Falcons were a true fluke, who were playing considerably over their heads, and came back to earth with a resounding thud in 1974. I've done numerous season to season studies to identify the greatest single season collapses of all time, and the 73-74 Falcons always rate in the top five. There was a drop-off in defense, as the points allowed/yards allowed increased from 1973 to 1974 from 9/6 to 16/15, but virtually all of the change was on the offensive side, where the points/yards change from 1973 to 1974 was 7/15 to 26/26. To put it another way, the 1974 Falcons only scored 35 percent of the points they scored the previous season; I seriously doubt this has ever happened before or since in all of pro football history.

Rupert Patrick wrote:The 1973 Falcons were a true fluke, who were playing considerably over their heads, and came back to earth with a resounding thud in 1974. I've done numerous season to season studies to identify the greatest single season collapses of all time, and the 73-74 Falcons always rate in the top five. There was a drop-off in defense, as the points allowed/yards allowed increased from 1973 to 1974 from 9/6 to 16/15, but virtually all of the change was on the offensive side, where the points/yards change from 1973 to 1974 was 7/15 to 26/26. To put it another way, the 1974 Falcons only scored 35 percent of the points they scored the previous season; I seriously doubt this has ever happened before or since in all of pro football history.

Which explains why Van Brocklin got bounced at midseason.

Rupert Patrick wrote:The 1973 Falcons were a true fluke, who were playing considerably over their heads, and came back to earth with a resounding thud in 1974. I've done numerous season to season studies to identify the greatest single season collapses of all time, and the 73-74 Falcons always rate in the top five. There was a drop-off in defense, as the points allowed/yards allowed increased from 1973 to 1974 from 9/6 to 16/15, but virtually all of the change was on the offensive side, where the points/yards change from 1973 to 1974 was 7/15 to 26/26. To put it another way, the 1974 Falcons only scored 35 percent of the points they scored the previous season; I seriously doubt this has ever happened before or since in all of pro football history.

Yeah, it doesn't help when your QBs' TD/Int ratio is 4/31 either.

I guess their first two games of 1973 were a microcosm of the 1973/74 collapse. They pummulled the Saints 62-7 in the opener while registering 32 first downs, and lost their next game at LA 31-0 with only TWO first downs! Crazy.

I recall Van Brocklin's last game was against Miami and Bob Kuechenberg got plenty of delight from the fact that his team's victory was what got Van Brocklin canned. A few days before the 1969 opener, Van Brocklin cut him from the Falcons' taxi squad. Kuechenberg was annoyed with the way it was done, not necessarily the release itself, although his recollection sounds a bit off:

(From the 12/13/82 Sports Illustrated):

"I went through the motions, I got cut, and Atlanta, another 2-12 team, picked me up. The Falcons told me, 'We're going to Canton for the Hall of Fame game. You can't learn our system in one week, but we like you. Go home to Chicago, get your wife and come back and settle down'—which is what I did. Norm Van Brocklin, the Falcons' coach then, cut me a week later. He didn't even have the decency to tell me himself. I never talked to him. But I'll tell you one of the great accomplishments in my pro career. I helped get him fired. It was in 74, my fifth year with the Dolphins, and we beat Atlanta 42-7. I loved it. He got fired two days later. It was one of my Top 10 highlights. I wanted to run a sweep to their bench so I could put spike marks in his neck."

NVB's teams in Minnesota and Atlanta were absolutely unpredictable from week to week and season to season...kind of like his moods. His teams were an accurate reflection of their head coach.

JohnH19 wrote:NVB's teams in Minnesota and Atlanta were absolutely unpredictable from week to week and season to season...kind of like his moods. His teams were an accurate reflection of their head coach.

One example during his Viking days:

1963
Weeks 3-4: Minnesota over SF, 45-14; St. Louis over Minn., 56-14
Weeks 12-14: Minnesota ties Chicago, 17-17; Baltimore over Minn., 41-10; Minnesota over Philly, 34-13