Mike Smith has Falcons flying under radar - NY Daily News

[The Falcon Jedi]

Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Michael Turner and Falcons flying under radar, which is OK with Mike Smith

Hank Gola
Thursday, December 23rd 2010, 12:15 PM

nydailynews.com/sports/football/2010/12/23/2010-12-23_matt_ryan_roddy_white_michael_turner_and_falcons_flying_under_radar_which_is_​ok_.html?r=sports


Amid the headlines for Brett Favre, the reverence for Tom Brady, the awe reserved for Michael Vick, we'd like to call everyone's attention to a group of players who could be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in a couple of months - as long as someone remembers to buy some black and red confetti.

The Atlanta Falcons are only 12-2, tied with the Patriots for football's best record. Monday night, they will attempt to sew up the top seed in the NFC against the defending champion Saints, playing in the Georgia Dome, where they are 19-3 under coach Mike Smith, 19-1 when Matt Ryan is quarterbacking.

Perhaps you've heard of them, perhaps not. For a league that does such a bang-up job of self-promotion, the NFL has done a lousy job of promoting one of its best teams. The Falcons began the season with eight straight 1 p.m. games. The top two crews of both FOX and CBS have yet to do any of their games. They've been on prime time just once, and that was a NFL Network Thursday game, making Monday's night's ESPN broadcast their first real national game.

In fact, up until now, the most exposure they've gotten is that Play 60 TV commercial where they're bopping on the bus.

But you know what? They're good - damn good - and anyone who ignores them will do so at their own peril.

"That's a good thing, we like it. I'll take 12-2 and everyone else can have the attention," says linebacker Mike Peterson, a 12-year vet. "You don't have a bunch of guys running to the cameras, who've got to be in the limelight. It's just come to work, which probably comes from our coach. We've got an ordinary coach, we've got an ordinary way of football. It's been winning for us so we're going to stick with it."

When, I asked Peterson, might the nation finally take notice?

"Dallas, probably," he said with a laugh, noting the site of Super Bowl XLV. "And that's O.K., too."

The Falcons do have te NFL's leading receiver in Roddy White (106 catches, 1,284 yards), the NFC's leading rusher in Michael Turner (1,256 yards) and a one of the league's best young quarterbacks in Ryan, who has thrown a career-high 25 TD passes. Still, it takes a careful look to truly appreciate this team.

On the surface, their No. 12 ranking on offense and No. 15 ranking on defense are pretty mediocre. But then you see the little things that win games. They have committed the fewest number of penalties in the league, they are fourth in turnover plus-minus, second in third down conversion rate, third in red zone scoring, first in red zone defense.

They also lead the league in averaging 9.49 plays and 4 minutes, 15 seconds per scoring drive. They're No. 1 with 27 five-minute drives and 12 TDs on drives of 5:00 or longer. They're even No. 1 in both kickoff return average and in opponents' starting field position.

And since Smith took over, they're also 26-1 when leading at the half, a tough bunch that's never done what the Giants did Sunday.

"I don't know if they've separated themselves simply because they're not that dominant in any one area," says former Ravens head coach Brian Billick, who has done four Atlanta games in the FOX TV booth. "But I think they've earned the title of being the best team in the NFC and a team worth having to go through to get to the Super Bowl because they've certainly played the most consistent all year long of any of the teams in the NFC. They don't beat themselves and for whatever reason, they're great at home."

"They're the safest team to like in the playoffs because they can do it all and they're going to be at home," adds Pat Kirwan, former pro personnel man and current analyst for NFL.com.

Offensively, Kirwan says, "They present the most balance."

Defensively, he admits, they're not elite. "But they're good enough to do their part," he notes. "As long as they keep it to 21 points and under, they're going to win all the time because they've got a machine that can find 30 points."

"What jumps out about them offensively is the skill they have at the important areas," Billick says. "But when I do their games and sit with their opponents at production meetings the thing that comes at you the most is the respect people have for them defensively. They're not a great team of stars but they play great team defense. It's never one guy hitting you, it's always two, three or four. It's impressive how fundamentally sound they are defensively even though they're not a team of great talent."

That machine Kirwan mentioned is led by a guy he calls "an emerging superstar" who reminds him of Brady.

"He came in skinny as can be," Kirwan notes. "Now I get a chance to sit down with him three times a year and he is definitely getting bigger and stronger and that's how Tom was. Tom was a skinny runt.

"What comes with that is a guy that can stay healthy and take more shots, number two, there's a lot more velocity on his ball. He even thinks like Tom. It's pretty easy for him to see the game, he's not overwhelmed by stuff and he has all these resources."

Future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez gives any defense matchup problems when they flex him out, which opens up the running game with Turner and Jason Snelling, who form what Billick says is the most physical backfield in the league.

Then there's White.

"Bill Cowher called him a Top 10 player. He said that back in September and people laughed," Kirwan notes. "But he is a Top 10 guy now ... over 100 catches and he's going to probably end up with 120. And there was a period of time when they didn't have (No. 2 WR) Michael Jenkins and they still fed him the ball and they still couldn't stop him.

"You put Jenkins back in the mix and you've got a real problem," Kirwan adds. "So to me, they've got a run/pass conflict with Gonzalez, they've got a power back that takes what he gives them and they've got this receiver on the opposite side of White. They've got answers all over the place."

Kirwan also points out a rarity that kind of sums up what the Falcons are all about. It's their right tackle, Tyson Clabo and right guard, Harvey Dahl.

"If you go to practice, most offensive linemen kind of walk around like cattle," Kirwan observes. "The guys on the right side, they might be the most animated guys at practice, they're just wild men and the players feed off them. Guys on the team think of them as setting the tone for practice, setting the tone in games. They love to rough it up and they're more like D-linemen."

Furthermore, says Kirwan, "When I talk to those guys, I don't see any divas. There are no egos in the receiver group, the tight end knows he's not what he once was and the quarterback is looking to take what they give him."

Peterson says that's very accurate. What else would you expect from a team whose owner runs Home Depot?

"The biggest thing is you've got guys who are buying into the season," he said. "We haven't had any off-field incidents or distractions, no guys putting themselves ahead of the team. It's blue collar, man, that hard-nosed, coming to work, old school Pittsburgh Steeler thing. We're doing the same thing we did in Week 1, the same grind. There aren't a whole bunch of guys getting ahead of themselves."

Peterson said the Falcons realized their potential when they convened at training camp. Injuries to Ryan and Turner killed their season a year ago but by watching the rival Saints win it all, they could ask, "why not us?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely," Peterson agreed. "Last year was last year but we had the measuring stick with the defending champs in our own division. The whole time they were making their Super Bowl run, they were destroying a lot of teams but we were right there with those guys both games. We knew where we were at, that that could definitely be us."

Now, if they can beat the Saints, the Falcons will run their winning streak to nine games and clinch home field. If not, they can still wrap it up when the 2-12 Panthers come to Atlanta the final week.

"It looks good. It looks great," Peterson said. "We've still got to go put the work in but from where are now, everything's pointing upward. We've got the defending champs in front of our home crowd with home field advantage there for us. It's going to be exciting, man. The city is all jacked up. You can probably tell I'm a little jacked up. It's great to be a Falcon now."
Easy, Mike. You don't want to attract too much attention.

First things first. If they can beat the Saints, the Falcons will run their winning streak to nine games and clinch home field. If not, they can still wrap it up when the 2-12 Panthers come to Atlanta the final week.

"It looks good. It looks great," Peterson said. "We've still got to go put the work in but from where are now, everything's pointing upward. We've got the defending champs in front of our home crowd with home field advantage there for us. It's going to be exciting, man. The city is all jacked up. You can probably tell I'm a little jacked up. It's great to be a Falcon now."

Easy, Mike. You don't want to attract too much attention.

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[Gritz]

Great, fair article.

Thanks for posting it.

[Red Falcon]

Fantastic post, keep flying below the radar guys!!!

[JOEinPHX]

Man, I liked that article! So nice to see that substance tops style game in and game out, and that a few people out there get it.

[Joenate]

That's what I like about our Falcons: no fluff, finesse, falsh in the pan juggernaut, rather, a traditional, old school, hard nosed, blue collar, git 'er done type football style.

[KJinCton]

Amazing article...thanks for posting!

[The Falcon Jedi]

The best Falcon articles always come from outside of Atlanta.

[Jesus]

Leave it to the NY post to write a positive article but still get a dig in on the Giants.

[The Falcon Jedi]

You can definitely tell the higher quality of this article compared to AJC articles. Filled with tons of informative stats and substance and quotes from notable NFL analysts, while remaining unbiased yet positive.

[AtlantaFalconPokerPro]

That literally one of the best Falcon related articles I've read all year.. Thanks for posting.