What could have been for the 2025 Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons lost to the lowly New York Jets on Nov. 14. Win that game and they’re in the playoffs.

The Falcons were 1-5 in one-score games before winning their final four games, all one-score affairs. Go 2-4 and they’re in the playoffs.

The special teams were not very special.

There were plays in five games where special teams blunders affected the losing outcome.

“But we all know there were a couple of other games where we had the opportunity to win,” Morris said. “We have to go out there and win games that we are capable of winning. Find ways to win like we have the last couple of weeks.”

Falcons Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom, one of the team captains, enjoyed the strong finish.

“Just really proud of our guys being able to finish the season,” Lindstrom said.

Lindstrom doesn’t want to reflect on the entire campaign and how the Falcons were eliminated after a 4-9 start.

“It’s hard to look back because in the moment, that’s why it’s so devastating when you let them go,” Lindstrom said. “Thankfully, I’ve been in the NFL long enough to just understand the value of every single week. When things aren’t going your way, you don’t know how it’s going to shake out. This year has been an example of that. Obviously, we were a little too far behind. But I’m proud of this team to kind of really push through.”

They learned how to play complementary football after getting eliminated from the playoffs.

“It’s good foundation, just to learn how to win,” Lindstrom said. “It showed that all three phases really help when they are complementing one another. But knowing what we can look like.”

There was one episode on the sidelines where wide receiver Drake London was yelling at passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach T.J. Yates. The wide receiver room was a train wreck for most of the season after coach Ike Hilliard was fired three games in and Ray-Ray McCloud was later released.

London gave an excuse about passion as to why he was yelling at Yates.

But for the most part, the team stayed together and didn’t quit.

“Just speaks to the character of the locker room,” Lindstrom said. “There were so many times where we would have bad losses and there were opportunities to fragment and that was never really the case.”

Lindstrom credited Morris with keeping the team together.

“With Rah’s leadership, guys on all three sides of the ball, it was really great and were able to overcome a lot of things,” Lindstrom said. “On the back stretch, we learned how to finish games. It doesn’t excuse the missteps we had along the way. Understanding and knowing that we can get better … if we can apply the lessons that we learned down this back stretch, it can very helpful heading into the start of next year.”

“It stinks,” London said about missing the playoffs. “You definitely want a lot of games back earlier in the year that might not have made sense to you on how big of an impact it would have on you. I think next year we have to have that mentality that all games are do or die.”

Linebacker Divine Deablo, a free agent signing who helped to solidify the defense, turned in a big season.

“It feels amazing,” Deablo said about the win over the Saints. “We officially finished strong, four straight. Hopefully, we can carry some momentum into next season.”

He knows reflecting on the season will be painful.

“We’ll definitely look back and want some games back,” Deablo said. “Unfortunately, that’s not how it worked out.”

Morris may have earned the right to come back for another season after the 8-9 finish. The Falcons were 8-9 last season.

“These guys, we’ve got enough people in place right now to be able to do what we need to do,” Morris said. “We knew that. That’s what makes it so frustrating for all of us.”

The offense never got rolling under Michael Penix Jr. Running back Bijan Robinson had a spectacular season. The defense set a franchise mark for sacks but couldn’t close out games when the Falcons had late leads against the Panthers, Colts and Jets.

“If we can go out there and execute the things we need to do everything we need to do like we’ve done the last couple of weeks and make that who we are,” Morris said. “That’s a part of why we wanted to do it and show it. It wasn’t about me or anybody else.”

Morris believes the Falcons learned how to win games.

“It was about us going out there and finding ways to do things we know we are capable of doing to prove it to ourselves,” Morris said. “You’ve got to practice winning. That’s what those guys did the last couple of weeks.”