FLOWERY BRANCH — Since moving into the palatial Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2017, the Falcons have not enjoyed a home-field advantage.
The spacious new building rarely got loud as the team descended from Super Bowl contender to a last-place team in the NFC South.
With the Falcons (3-2) winning their first three home games this season, the building is showing new signs of life as they are set to host the Washington Commanders (2-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“Yes,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said when asked if the stadium seemed louder this season. “That was a huge emphasis after the ‘21 season.”
There were times in 2019 and 2020 when you could comfortably take a nap during Falcons games during the finals day of the Dan Quinn era.
Those days may be over.
“Oh, 100%, it is way louder than last year,” Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder said. “It’s funny, we were watching the San Francisco game last week because a similar defense came from it, and you turn on the tape. You look in the stands, and you see the one clip of the scoreboard. You kind of see half the fans underneath it. You could like count them.”
Ridder and backup quarterback Logan Woodside were watching it together.
“I’m like, man, this is wild, just a year’s difference and what it can do,” Ridder said. “It’s just a huge testament to a whole city showing up and supporting us, coming out and just bringing great energy.”
Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and left tackle Jake Matthews played in the Georgia Dome and the Benz.
“The Dome was definitely rocking,” Jarrett said. “Those were some nice times. But I feel like the energy is definitely picking up in the Benz. I can’t say enough how fun it’s been playing in front of the fans, especially this year.”
Matthews said: “I can definitely sense a change in the fans. They are more into it. I think that’s on us when it comes to our responsibility when it comes to winning. We’ve been playing better at home, and we want to continue that. Keep them interested in cheering for us. Winning usually cures all of that.”
One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is that Falcons fans are notoriously late getting inside the stadium. The optics at the beginning of some telecasts will show a lot of empty red seats.
The louder atmosphere includes a cheering section (134) – The Dirty Bird Nest – that attempts to support the teams “rituals and traditions.” The Falcons appear be trying to create a Cleveland-style “Dawg Pound” section, which is on two levels and covers several sections at Browns Stadium.
Perhaps borrowing a page from the Pittsburgh Steelers and their “terrible towels,” the Falcons passed out white flags at the season opener for fans to wave. After games the fans have been encouraged via a message on the scoreboard to bring the white flags to the next game.
On third downs for the defense, the stadium announcer prompts the fans to get loud.
The stadium appears to be legitimately louder even though the Falcons did get busted for pumping in fake crowd noise to the Georgia Dome in 2015.
“It’s all about a shared experience,” Smith said. “It’s important to our guys. We have to continue that trend, but it certainly has made a difference.”
Despite all of the marketing strategies, the team’s success most likely is responsible for the improved stadium atmosphere.
The Falcons have had five consecutive losing seasons and won only three, two and three home games in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons. They started to turn the corner last season when they posted a 6-3 mark at home.
“Now, it’s like that video game, you’re hitting those things – first year, we were really good on the road,” Smith said. “Not so good at home. We have to get both, now. If you have any road ideas, let me know next week.”
After hosting the Commanders, the Falcons play on the road against Tampa Bay on Oct. 22.
“In all seriousness, that’s really important to us,” Smith said. “The fans have been phenomenal. You can feel their energy in that fourth quarter. You talk about a momentum shift. (Houston’s) Robert Woods made a good play, but after we scored and Jessie (Bates) broke on that ball, that place was rocking.”
The Benz went berserk after wide receiver Drake London made a big third-down catch, he got up and celebrated as his helmet was ripped off his head.
London felt the energy.
“A lot of motivation, and it’s a big momentum-changer,” London said. “When you have fans like that who back you, support what you are doing. They are excited to be there and excited to see you play. It helps us all to play up to certain level, our standard every day.”
London wasn’t playing to the crowd with his emotional outburst, but it was well received.
“Trying to take advantage of our opportunities,” London said. “Bottle the energy up and let it out on Sunday. Keep the momentum going, building it brick by brick and keep this streak going.”
Rookie running back Bijan Robinson enjoys the atmosphere, too.
“I love to play in there,” Bijan said. “I can’t want to play in there on Sunday.”
It’s hard to tell if more people are in the building because the Falcons release “tickets distributed” and not the turnstile count. In the past, the “ticket distributed” number could be much higher than the actual attendance.
From an AJC report in 2019: “The Falcons announced average attendance of 72,898 at their eight regular-season home games, but actually drew almost 9,000 fewer per game to the stadium — an average of 64,022. Three times during a disappointing season, the Falcons’ real attendance was more than 11,000 below the announced figure. For the home finale, the crowd was 15,614 fewer than announced.”
The Falcons have announced tickets distributed at 69,597 for the Panthers game Sept. 10, 69,251 for the Green Bay game on Sept. 17, and 69,461 for the Houston game on Oct. 8.
Whatever the size of the crowd, the Falcons are enjoying the new atmosphere.
“We have the best stadium in the league,” Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen said. “It’s not even close. When that (retractable roof) was open last week. It got a little chilly in there, but it was awesome.”
The Falcons appreciate the help on third downs.
“The crowd has been awesome all three home games,” Nielsen said. “On third down particularly. There have been a couple of times where we’ve had to make a couple of calls so the guys could hear it a little bit louder or repeat the call because the crowd has been so into the game. We’ve got a great crowd.”
At the end of the game against the Texans, the crowd played a role.
“It got so loud in there,” Nielsen said. “You saw the guys giving the ‘one more time’ signal because they couldn’t hear in the helmet the call coming in. When they are doing that, it’s pretty dang loud. It’s awesome.”
The white flags, normally a sign of surrender, look great on television. Maybe they’ll catch on like the towels in Pittsburgh.
“The stadium is fantastic,” Nielsen said. “It’s a great game-day atmosphere. Everything with the environment and the crowd. Again, the (roof) was open last week, and it was fantastic.”
The fans are making noise at the right times, too.
“We have a smart crowd,” Nielsen said. “They know what’s going on. It’s quiet on offense. It’s loud on defense. They are into the game, paying attention to everything that’s going on.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
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