The Atlanta Falcons won't let positive press go to their heads

Matt Ryan (left) and Mike Smith, AP Photo/Dave Martin

"What a difference a year makes" is a phrase often uttered in conjunction with the Atlanta Falcons 2008 season and the season that preceded it.

The same is true this offseason as the team heads into the 2009 season with high expectations, skyscraper-high compared to the predictions most gave the team last offseason.

Theirs was not exactly a formula with a history of success: rookie head coach, rookie quarterback, and a franchise with an unfortunate history.

But the performance of the '08 Falcons has made many reconsider a lot of things. Teams like the Detroit Lions are reevaluating the theory that a rookie quarterback needs to sit and learn in his first year after witnessing what Atlanta's Matt Ryan accomplished in his rookie year.

Furthermore fans and pundits alike are not so quick to write off a team in rebuilding like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (rookie head coach with a first-round, rookie quarterback).

For many of the journalists that picked the Atlanta Falcons to finish last in the NFC South or worse (The Sporting News said they'd finish 1-15) the crow eating has been well-documented.

What a difference a year makes.

This offseason has been peppered with Atlanta Falcons talk. There's the obligatory New England Patriots and Tom Brady's return talk. The defending champ Pittsburgh Steelers are always in the discussion. The Minnesota Vikings have a promising team, but they've been in the mix all offseason because of a link to a one #4. And lo and behold the Falcons have found their way into the positive preseason projections in the NFL.

Following last season this should come as no surprise but for a fan base that's never seen back-to-back winning seasons there's surely a bit of trepidation. The history isn't exactly glowing, but if you talk to any of them, they'll keep it like a secret in the closet. They'd rather tell you about Head Coach Mike Smith, golden-armed Ryan, the remade defense, and the magic talent eyes of General Manager Thomas Dimitroff.

But there is one man with a voice in Atlanta that is saying, "Not so fast."

25-year Atlanta Journal-Constitution veteran Mark Bradley since June has been saying he's a little worried.

To be fair, he's on record saying the Falcons will finish 10-6, but in his 25 years he's seen good teams in the red and black go on to crumble under the weight of expectations, injury, and a jinx that many believe curses this franchise.

In one recent column, he cited team owner Arthur Blank, acknowledging nerves do exist.

“I get nervous, like every fan does, but history has nothing to do with it. There’s no question we have a better team in 2009 than we did in 2008," Blank told Bradley. "That said, we do have a tougher schedule, and you always have to be concerned about an injury to the wrong player. But I love our coaching staff and I love our general manager. We’re in a very good place.”

Bradley agrees with Blank, but is quick to remind everyone of the team that historically seems to operate with a bag full of bad mojo.

"Agreed. I like the Falcons’ management more than I ever have. But still … this is a franchise steeped in the art of the cosmic letdown," Bradley writes.

Mark Bradley is paying attention, but he can't get out of the way of history.

Is it perhaps not time for some cosmic blessings?

Sure, karma took a turn for the positive in 2008 when the feel-good Falcons turned things around and now in 2009 back-to-back winnings seasons is the literal and figurative next step.

Unlike Bradley, however, most of the national media is ignoring history. They love the Falcons because they have an impressive young quarterback and an offense that is primed to devastate. From Roddy White to Jerious Norwood, they're loaded with offensive weapons of mass destruction.

There are question marks, to be sure. For one, just how effective will the defense be?

Consider this: the Falcons defense in 2008 was ranked 24th in total defense. Eight teams were worse. Sure they lost five starters on defense, but they lost five starters on the 24th-ranked defense. Nothing against the departed guys, but the younger and faster players brought in through free agency and the draft combined with the players in backup roles in '08 are ready to improve that ranking.

But every team has talent. Often the difference between winning and losing in the NFL is attitude. And the Falcons have it and that's perhaps the biggest difference between this Smith-led Falcons team and teams of the past.

There's little braggadocio on this team. There's not much coming out of Flowery Branch for other teams to write on their bulletin boards. In short, there don't appear to be players of the Ray Buchanan or DeAngelo Hall ilk.

If you've listened to them this offseason, they appear to have a similar mindset and a collective focus: regroup, return to the playoffs, and play better. They've tasted it and the outcome was sour. They don't appear to have forgotten it.

Safety Erik Coleman said in April in a radio interview with Atlanta's AM 680 (The Fan) that the plane ride home from Arizona in January was the longest of his life. "We'll definitely remember that one. We were very disappointed in the outcome of the game. But we'll keep that taste in our mouth and just remember how that felt and use it as motivation," Coleman said.

Defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux believes the leaders on this team, especially the defense have just enough experience to lead. "We're going to take all our young guys under our wings...we're going to lead them in the right direction," he told Atlanta's AM 790 (The Zone) in April.

Few can forget Tony Gonzalez' first day in Atlanta when he reminded the Atlanta faithful that he can relate to their feelings of squandered seasons when he shared the he'd never won a playoff game in his illustrious 12-year career.

"I'm here for one reason and that's to win a Super Bowl," Gonzalez said at the press conference introducing him to Atlanta.

Few have been more outspoken about the desire to go further in '09 than Ryan, the quarterback entering his second season but whose maturity and desire to improve imply a player of more season. He's ready to lead and be the voice of the team and his teammates acknowledged it at the end of last season when they named him a team captain.

The story of his appearance in the film room the day after the playoff loss is now famous. But it speaks volumes about Ryan and his focus.

"Losing in the playoffs, that serves as great motivation and so I started to come back a little bit early...to start preparing for next year," Ryan said at the team press conference at the beginning of offseason activities.

On a team with so many weapons there could be some concern that the "I want mine" attitude could creep in. But Ryan has pointed out that all these playmakers and Pro Bowlers only want to win.

"We've got such a good rapport in that locker room. All of us want the same thing. We want to win. ...I think everybody is on the same page. We all understand that we've got to do whatever it takes to win. It doesn't matter who is getting theirs. That unselfishness will really help us," Ryan said last week on the 2 Live Stews radio show.

And finally from Ryan, a quote that seems to sum up the player's approach this offseason:

"What we did last year wasn't good enough to get it done," Ryan said on 680 in June. "And you have to step it up and do something else--the little things. You just have to do the little things better and that's kind of been the approach we've had."

This type of attitude may be inherent in the players, but some of it has to be implanted. Head Coach Mike Smith was perhaps the perfect coach to assume the Falcons in the wake of 2007. He's even-keeled, calm, passionate, and realistic. He has a country-wisdom way about him and it seems he knew the positive press was coming.

He drafted a message to the team at the beginning of offseason training that focused on two themes: humble and hungry.

As for being hungry, Smith wanted his players to remember they're always learning and improving.

On being humble, he cautioned this team to not allow any past success to cause complacency.

"Even though we had some success last year, it has no bearing on the future," the Falcons' head coach said, adding his team needs a hunger for the "passion to strive for greatness."

While it's an example he's provided to his entire team, his young quarterback lives it and Ryan is perhaps the most important player on the team from which to have the buy-in.

Former New York Giants General Manager and long-time NFL executive Ernie Accorsi said the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers once told him that the most important relationship in football, and possibly in all of sports, is the one between head coach and quarterback.

This head coach and quarterback have a good one. If you listen to them discuss each other, you'll hear a tone that is respectful and rooted in an admiration for the way in which each goes about his business.

Look no further than Ryan's moment on the sideline in Week 1 following his first pass in the NFL, a pass completed to Michael Jenkins for a touchdown.

Ryan sat with cup in hand as his head coach approached him. Taking his head set off, his excitement was hard to hide.

"That's the way you throw your first pass. That's the way you do it," he shouted with conviction at his rookie.

In some ways Smith's role is more big brother than father figure and his players respond to it. Watch highlights of last season and on the sidelines you'll see a coach congratulating his players, not afraid to show joy or embrace a player.

He's also a coach that knows the value of a good message. He brought in a motivational speaker last season during camp to give his players a break from his own voice.

Jon Gordon delivered a "if you can see it, you can create it"-type message to a team that went on to create some new attitudes about Atlanta's NFL franchise.

Those attitudes have carried over into the offseason and now as the previews are written and released, the Falcons and elite are on the tips of many people's tongues.

You can't blame Bradley for being cautiously optimistic.

But he needs to remember the intangibles that set this team on its course in 2008 and consider them again as he looks to 2009.

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