Falcons Evaluate Raheem Morris's First Season as Coach

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Raheem Morris started his tenure as Atlanta Falcons head coach by selling dreams of playoff appearances and title runs, but his first season ended with a frustrating 8-9 record.
He sang a different tune in his end-of-season press conference.
"Disappointed for our organization, for us, for our fan base, for all of us," Morris said Jan. 6, the day after Atlanta's season ended. "But the work has to start today. 2025 starts today for us and the process has already begun."
The Falcons started the season at 6-3 before losing six of their final eight games, including back-to-back overtime defeats in the final two weeks of the season to secure a seventh consecutive year with a losing record and no playoff berth.
Morris drew widespread criticism for his clock management in a Week 17 loss to the Washington Commanders, and Atlanta's downward spiral in the second half fell on his shoulders.
It all culminated in a season best described as disappointing.
"You certainly always got to self-evaluate and what you want to do better and how you want to do those things better," Morris said when evaluating his year. "You certainly want to do things better for yourself and better for your organization, for everybody. This disappointment comes not just blaming and pushing on anybody else.
"You somewhat internalize it all and put it on yourself and then breed it out across the organization so we can go out and make those things better. You’ve definitely got to always self-evaluate yourself as well and that's part of our evaluation as well."
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot, who worked with a new staff for the first time since being hired in January 2021, acknowledged the team didn't win enough games, which prompts an evaluation of many different areas.
Fontenot likes the staff's collaboration, something he said Morris spearheaded.
"Raheem sets that tone in the right way," Fontenot said. "And I'm excited about attacking this offseason with Raheem and doing everything we can do to make whatever adjustments we need to make to get this team where it needs to be."
The Falcons are also excited about their future, in large part because of an offense with quarterback Michael Penix Jr., running back Bijan Robinson and receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney.
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But Atlanta also understands optimism means little without results -- and with another playoff-less season, the internal theme around Morris's first year remains one of frustration.
"Raheem's a special person. He's a special coach. I can sit here and talk about all the positives regarding Raheem," Fontenot said. "He said (Jan. 6), and I said at the start of this press conference, we're all disappointed in the results of the season.
"Very, very excited to attack this offseason with Raheem and make sure we get it right."