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| Al Messerschmidt / Getty Images |
| Falcons RB Michael Turner is one of the few players on the roster who knows the road to the playoffs. |
ATLANTA -- With the intention of sending a message to his young, playoff-inexperienced Falcons, coach Mike Smith called a team meeting last week, interrupting momentarily his preparation for an important divisional clash with Tampa Bay.
He asked his players with 10 or more years of NFL experience to stand up and announce how many times they'd been to the playoffs. One by one, eight players on the 53-man roster rose. Their total number of postseason appearances came in around 20, more than a quarter of them by a single player.
Smith also asked assistant head coach Emmitt Thomas, a Hall of Fame player and coach of more than 30 years, to disclose how many times he'd been to the playoffs.
"Emmitt said he'd only been (three) times," said center Todd McClure, who's in his 10th NFL season, all with Atlanta. "I've only been twice. Lawyer Milloy said he'd been (four) times. There weren't many guys on our team who've been around that long, and not many of those guys have been to the playoffs very often."
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| Falcons' playoff history | |||||
| Year | W-L | Playoffs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 11-5 | Lost to Eagles in NFC Championship | |||
| 2002 | 9-6-1 | Lost to Eagles in divisional playoff | |||
| 1998 | 14-2 | Lost to Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII | |||
| 1995 | 9-7 | Lost to Packers in NFC wild-card | |||
| 1991 | 10-6 | Lost to Redskins in divisional playoff | |||
| 1982 | 5-4 | Lost to Vikings in NFC wild-card | |||
| 1980 | 12-4 | Lost to Cowboys in divisional playoff | |||
| 1978 | 9-7 | Lost to Cowboys in divisional playoff | |||
This wasn't show-and-tell. Neither was it an exercise to let the old guys tell the young guys how special the postseason experience is.
Smith's point was this: No longer were the Falcons in a rebuilding season, nor were they laying a foundation for the future. Their feel-good tale about a team that's in the thick of a playoff hunt after managing just four victories last season amid unprecedented turmoil?
None of that matters, Smith was pointing out, when a playoff berth is at hand.
The window of opportunity is now, he told his team, so climb through it.
"The point was being this close, it's not guaranteed you're going to get this close every year, so while we're here, let's make this run and finish it off and make it happen," said running back Michael Turner, who's as much a reason for Atlanta being where it is as rookie quarterback Matt Ryan.
In defeating the NFC South-rival Buccaneers 13-10 in overtime on Sunday, the Falcons improved to 9-5, tying them with the second-place Buccaneers and keeping them within two games of the division-leading Carolina Panthers with two games to play.
The way the Panthers are playing, the liklihood that all three teams could finish with 11-5 records seems remote. What appears more likely is that either Tampa Bay, which currently holds the No. 6 playoff post, or Atlanta, which would not make it if the season ended today, will be left out.
To be so close to making the playoffs is a good thing, some Atlanta players said, but not getting there would be disappointing.
Imagine that. Not making the playoffs would be disappointing in Atlanta.
Not making the playoffs is almost a birthright for the Falcons. Fans will talk of heartbreak to their offspring. The franchise, founded in 1966, has never had back-to-back winning seasons. Talk about disappointing.
"I've been on those teams where here you are at this point of the season and you don't have a chance," McClure said. "It's tough. You have to be a professional and know you're getting paid to play the game. But now, with a chance to get to the playoffs, where you know anything can happen, this is what it's about."
The pressure of playing under unforeseen expectations seemed to smack Atlanta on Sunday. It was win or go back to being the same old, disappointing Falcons.
At first, the Falcons thrived, jumping to a 10-0 lead against a nemesis that smashed them earlier this season and has a history of working them over. Then Ryan briefly played like a rookie, throwing two interceptions that kept Atlanta from making it an easy day.
In the waning moments, the Falcons allowed a punt to be blocked, seemingly the death knell for a team that had survived three turnovers to that point. Tampa Bay's tying field goal with 48 seconds remaining followed. Smith, Atlanta's first-year coach, then played for overtime, a cautious decision that came one week after he decided to punt against a New Orleans Saints offense that his team hadn't stopped all day. It backfired then.
Would this be another costly decision at a time when Smith's team couldn't afford one?
Tampa Bay won the toss, took possession and got into a nice tempo dinking the ball to Warrick Dunn and pounding it with Cadillac Williams. But on third-and-8 at the Tamba Bay 37, defensive end John Abraham recorded his third sack of the game for a 13-yard loss.
The window of opportunity opened, and the Falcons climbed through it.
After the Bucs punted the ball, the Falcons took possession at their 29, and Ryan and Turner drove them to the Tampa Bay 16. Jason Elam then booted a 34-yard field goal to win the game, and again, Atlanta looked like a team more ready for the postseason than one to be denied.
"You don't want to have back-to-back losses at the end of the season," Smith said. "If you don't have back-to-back losses, you're going to be around where you want to be. We've talked about the milestones that we've reached, and this is a milestone that we're continuing."
On the subject of back-to-back losses, Tampa Bay took a double dip in less than a week. It lost to Carolina on Monday night, then fell victim to an Atlanta team that rammed the ball down its throat. All told, the Bucs were bled for 474 rushing yards by two NFC South teams trying to steal their title as defending division champions.
The absence of defensive tackle Jovan Haye against the Panthers and defensive tackle Chris Hovan against the Falcons -- Haye was back in a limited role on Sunday -- was cited as an exploitable deficiency.
"We were able to get some double teams along the line and get some guys to their linebackers," McClure said.
The Bucs also were without starting quarterback Jeff Garcia, who was scratched after his ailing calf didn't respond properly during pre-game drills. Brian Griese unexpectedly filled in and played relatively well -- save for not doing whatever he could to foil Abraham's sack in overtime.
The outcome wasn't so much what Tampa Bay didn't do or didn't have in losing. It was about what Atlanta managed to do -- and that was ride Turner to live another day.
Turner had a season-high 32 carries for 152 yards and one touchdown, and his 17-yard run to the Tampa Bay 18 in overtime was the play that truly broke the Bucs.
Aside from his 1,421 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns this season, the true benefit of signing Turner to a six-year, $34.5 million contract as a free agent last spring is this: He knows what it takes to get to the playoffs after spending the first four years of his career as LaDainian Tomlinson's understudy in San Diego.
Turner wasn't the Chargers' focal point -- he was a bit player. Still, he knows what it's like to win games down the stretch and how crucial it is for every player to excel in his role, whether it's a bit part or a big one.
Those players who didn't know how bright Turner's desire burned found out Sunday.
"When I got here, they didn't put any wins on the table or set any goals," Turner said. "The only goal was building a team. It was a simple as that. When I was first drafted by San Diego, it wasn't the greatest place to play. They were coming off a 4-12 season. Things got turned around quickly. I know it's possible."
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