EXHIBITION GAMES
Aug. 14 (Fri) vs. Tennessee Titans 7 p.m.
Aug. 21 (Fri) at New York Jets 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 29 (Sat) at Miami Dolphins 7 p.m.
Sept. 3 (Thur) vs. Baltimore Ravens 7 p.m.
REGULAR SEASON
Sept. 14 (Mon) vs. Philadelphia Eagles 7:10 p.m. (ESPN)
Sept. 20 ISun) at New York Giants 1 p.m. (FOX)
Sept. 27 (Sun) at Dallas Cowboys 1 p.m. (FOX)
Oct. 4 (Sun) vs. Houston Texans 1 p.m. (CBS)
Oct. 11 (Sun) vs. Washington Redskins 1 p.m. (FOX)
Oct. 15 (Thur) at New Orleans (CBS/NFLN) 8:25 p.m.
Oct. 25 (Sun) at Tennessee Titans 1 p.m. (FOX)
Nov. 1 (Sun) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 p.m. (FOX)
Nov. 8 (Sun) at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 p.m. (FOX)
Nov. 15 Bye Week
Nov. 22 (Sun) vs. Indianapolis Colts 1 p.m. (CBS)
Nov. 29 (Sun) vs. Minnesota Vikings 1 p.m. (FOX)
Dec. 6 (Sun) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 p.m. (FOX)
Dec. 13 at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. (FOX)
Dec. 20 at Jacksonville Jaguars 1 p.m. (FOX)
Dec. 27 vs. Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. (FOX)
Jan. 3 vs. New Orleans Saints 1 p.m. (FOX)
The Dan Quinn Era will kickoff against the Philadelphia Eagles in a nationally televised game on ESPN’s Monday Night Football at 7:10 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Georgia Dome.
After two losing seasons, Quinn, the former defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks, was hired to replace Mike Smith, the winningest coach in franchise history, on Feb. 2.
The first-time head coach will take center stage, with the rest of the league watching, when the Falcons open the season against the Eagles and their avant-garde coach Chip Kelly, who recently signed quarterback Tim Tebow after a rash of bizarre and wide-ranging offseason moves.
After opening the season at home, the Falcons will travel to play the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys before returning home to play the Houston Texans and wrap up the first-quarter of the regular season.
Last season, the Falcons opened with a 2-1 record, which included spectacular wins over New Orleans and Tampa Bay. The Falcons went down to Minnesota in the fourth game, which started a five-game losing streak they never would recover from.
The Falcons will not play a NFC South foe until the sixth game of the season. After hosting Washington on Oct. 11, they’ll have a short-turnaround before facing the rival New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football at 8:25 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Superdome.
“You just kind of focus on your own thing, what you can control,” said linebacker Paul Worrilow when asked about the offseason chaos in the division. “You worry about personally what can you attack, what can you improve.”
After facing the Saints, the Falcons will play the Titans in Nashville, host Tampa Bay and play at San Francisco before reaching their bye week after nine games.
Four of the final seven games will be against NFC South foes, including playing Carolina twice in three weeks in Games 13 and 15 of the season.
Carolina will enter the season as the likely favorite to win the division title for the third consecutive season.
Tampa Bay, which holds the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, could draft former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.
The Falcons have opened the last two seasons against the Saints. They opened 2012 down at the Superdome and last season at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons, who went 6-10 last season and 4-12 in 2013, will get a chance to rebound with the NFL’s easiest schedule based on the records of their opponents in 2014.
Atlanta’s foes in 2015 posted a .409 winning percentage in 2014, worse than any other team’s opponents. By contrast, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have the toughest schedule, will play teams with .579 winning percentage in 2014.
The Falcons will play just four teams who had a winning-record in 2014.
Smith had the Falcons on the brink of the Super Bowl when they dropped the NFC Championship game to San Francisco after the 2012 regular season.
But personnel decisions and injuries led to a 4-12 record in 2013 and more injuries and some botched calls by Smith led to last season’s 6-10 mark, in which the Falcons were in contention for the playoffs until the final week of the season.
With the hiring of Quinn, improvement from returning players, some key additions in free agency like linebackers Brooks Reed and Justin Durant and the draft, the Falcons are hoping to return to the playoff picture.
“As a team you always want to do the best you can,” center Joe Hawley said. “That was definitely disappointing for us, the past two years.”
Hawley, who’s battling back from knee surgery, opened last season as the starter but suffered a season-ending torn ACL against Minnesota in Game 4.
“For me personally, I definitely have a chip on my shoulder,” Hawley said. “I have a lot to prove. I was handed the starting spot last year and didn’t get the opportunity to show what I had.
“I know there are still a lot of question marks for some people. I want to prove that I belong in there.”
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