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Ryan Still Confident in Falcons’ Offense

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Matt Ryan and the Falcons are expecting better offensive production in Atlanta’s important final regular-season game against Carolina.

The Falcons can win the NFC South division title and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs by beating the on Sunday. A loss wouldn’t be the end to the season, but it would definitely take away much of the luster.

Ryan has thrived in clutch situations this season, but when his last two passes fell incomplete in Atlanta’s loss to New Orleans Monday night, it put new importance on Sunday’s contest against the Panthers.

Ryan’s nickname gained popularity as he led Atlanta to six wins this season with go-ahead scores in the fourth quarter or overtime. “Matty Ice” needs another strong showing Sunday.

Ryan said the 17-14 loss to the showed that late-game victories can’t be taken for granted.

“There’s nothing given,” Ryan said Thursday. “There’s nothing automatic in this league. But with that said, we have the same expectation that in a tight game, late in the game, we’re going to make the plays that we need to win. We just didn’t do that at the end of the last game. We had some chances and just didn’t make the plays that we needed to.

“It’s a learning experience. It keeps us motivated and hopefully we do a better job of it this week.”

Ryan’s clutch performances helped lead to his first Pro Bowl selection this week. Late-game heroics from Ryan have become so common Atlanta players say they were shocked to see the Falcons stopped late in the loss to the Saints.

“There was never a doubt in our mind we were going to win,” said fullback Ovie Mughelli. “It just didn’t happen in this game. It hurt so much because we’re so used to winning after eight wins in a row.

“We fully expected to drive down there and somehow to at least get in field goal range. When it didn’t happen, I think a lot of us were stunned.”

The Falcons were held to 215 total yards and Ryan completed 15 of 29 passes for only 148 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

The Saints contained Roddy White, who leads the NFL with 109 catches. White was shadowed by an extra defensive back and had only three catches for 43 yards, including a 7-yard catch for a touchdown.

The Falcons say they must do a better job with their running game and passing to tight end Tony Gonzalez and receivers Michael Jenkins and Douglas when defenses focus on White.

The Falcons have five newly named Pro Bowl players from their offense: Ryan, Mughelli, Turner, White and Gonzalez. Ryan said an offense with so many weapons shouldn’t be held to 14 points.

“I think we just need to play better,” Ryan said. “We had opportunities to take advantage of some of the things they were doing against us, and we just didn’t play well enough.

“I think it comes down to us. … We need to execute better and if we do that we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

Falcons coach Mike Smith said the Panthers may try defensive strategies that worked for the Saints, including extra attention on White.

“That’s been going on for quite some time and over the last couple of weeks probably more snaps of it,” Smith said. “Again, when you’re a Pro Bowl player and you have the production Roddy has, you’re going to get that attention.

“We have to be prepared to make sure we have a plan to offset that. … I think when they take something away they’re going to leave something open, and we’ve got to make sure we can find it and go ahead and execute because they can’t take everything away.”

The Falcons won 31-10 at Carolina on Dec. 12.

If Carolina beats Atlanta and New Orleans beats Tampa Bay, the Falcons would lose home-field advantage and the first-round bye.

Ryan said there’s no danger of taking the Panthers lightly with so much on the line.

“I think everybody in here knows what’s at stake,” Ryan said. “We don’t need to talk about it. I don’t think anybody is looking further than this week.”

Notes: White and LB Curtis Lofton were given routine days off from practice. DT Jonathan Babineaux (shoulder) and center Todd McClure (ankle) also did not practice. DE (groin) and DE Kroy Biermann (calf) were limited. … Smith said he was proud to have seven players on the Pro Bowl team. He mentioned Babineaux, PK Matt Bryant and OT Tyson Clabo as also deserving.

Streaking Falcons Aiming for ‘Summa Cum Laude’

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.. Fullback Ovie Mughelli says the Atlanta Falcons want to graduate from the regular season at the top of the NFC’s class.

“We’re trying to get summa cum laude and graduate from the regular season with high honors,” Mughelli said Thursday.

The Falcons (9-2) are on track for straight A’s. Their five-game winning streak is the team’s longest since its 1998 season. They will try to protect the NFC’s best record on Sunday at Tampa Bay (7-4).

The Falcons could lock up home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs by finishing 14-2 with five more wins. That’s a lofty goal, but the schedule is manageable.

Atlanta’s only other remaining test against a team with a winning record is a Dec. 27 home game against New Orleans (8-3), now one game behind the Falcons in the NFC South. The Falcons have two games remaining against Carolina (1-10) and a visit to Seattle (5-6).

The visit to Tampa Bay begins a stretch of three straight road games for the Falcons, including games at Carolina and Seattle.

If the Falcons can keep stretching their winning streak in the regular season and then take advantage of home-field advantage in the playoffs, their next road trip could be to Dallas for the Super Bowl.

Most Atlanta are following coach Mike Smith’s mandate of focusing on one game at a time, but tight end Tony Gonzalez acknowledged he has looked ahead to that possible trip to Dallas.

“I have ran that over in my mind,” Gonzalez said. “We’re trying to stay focused in the moment but it’s human nature, you start to think about what could be and there’s nothing wrong with that because you’ve set your goals to get there, if you set high goals.”

The Falcons are peaking on offense just in time for the December stretch. Their 10 turnovers are the fewest in the NFC, including no turnovers in the last four games — a franchise record.

The Falcons are protecting the ball during time-consuming drives. Their 24 drives lasting 5 minutes or longer are the most in the NFL.

Michael Turner ranks fifth in the league with 974 yards rushing, while Matt Ryan is having his best season with 19 touchdown passes and only five interceptions.

But Mughelli said the Falcons can play better on offense.

“The one thing we haven’t done is put teams away,” Mughelli said. “We’ve got to do that with bad teams, we’ve got to do it with good teams. We’ve got to do it anytime we have the opportunity, to put that nail in the coffin.

“In a couple of games as you look through the season, we haven’t done that and we’ve had to just hope and pray our defense holds onto our lead. We have to learn to get that killer instinct. We have it, we just need to work on it a little more and execute a little more to enforce it.”

The Falcons beat Arizona 41-7 in Week 2 and have only one other win by more than 10 points, a 34-17 win at St. Louis on Nov. 21.

The five-game winning streak also includes narrow wins over Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Baltimore and .

Receiver Roddy White said the Falcons, who have losses at Pittsburgh and at Philadelphia, also have to disprove doubters who say they’re a top team only at the Georgia Dome.

“Everybody knows we’re tough at home but they question us on the road and things like that,” White said. “We just have to continue to work hard and get better each week.

“The expectation is to win, to win every game from here on out and put ourselves in a good position at the end of the season.”

Notes: Running back Jason Snelling (hamstring) was held out of practice for the second straight day. Smith said he hopes Snelling is ready for “limited snaps” in Friday’s practice. Snelling is second on the team with 300 yards rushing and two touchdowns and third with 35 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns. … Another backup running back, Antone Smith, also was held out with a hamstring injury.

Falcons Keep Winning, Even if Few Seem to Notice

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.. No NFL team has a better record than Mike Smith’s Falcons, and perhaps none has made fewer headlines.

They practice, they play and they win without hype. There’s little drama and even less national publicity in this post- era.

Maybe that’s why the Atlanta coach laughs when asked whether there has been more national demands on his time with the 7-2 Falcons atop the NFC.

“Uh, no,” Smith said. “They don’t want to talk to me.”

Not even after his team’s exciting last-minute 26-21 win over the last week. Even the Falcons’ losses have been impressive — at Philadelphia and in overtime at Pittsburgh.

Doesn’t matter. Smith, who carries one of the lowest profiles of any coach in the league, never detours from the all-business script that his players follow faithfully, if almost anonymously.

And if the nation yawns, that’s fine. Call these Falcons dull, but call them winners.

“I just feel like we’re flying under the radar and we’re doing a good job of that and we’re just going to stay where we’re at,” receiver Roddy White says.

There’s not a lot of flash in the Falcons, who place an emphasis on running the ball and stopping the run. It’s not a style that commands a lot of attention, but it has Smith on pace for his third straight winning record with a franchise that had never before had back-to-back winning seasons.

Few outside of Atlanta may know much about even the team’s top players.

White’s numbers are up there with the NFL’s best receivers. He’s a clutch performer with an engaging personality and the most-quoted player on the team, not that many outside of Atlanta have noticed.

White doesn’t criticize teammates or second-guess his coach. He doesn’t earn repeated fines from the league for his tweets. He doesn’t have his own TV show.

This is Smith’s team, and foolery is not tolerated.

It’s little wonder why White and his teammates are so willing to wrap themselves in their blanket of anonymity.

The Falcons had more than their share of headlines the last few years, and little of it was positive. While Vick is flourishing in Philadelphia, his fall from grace while the face of the Atlanta franchise overshadowed the team for two years.

There was the Jim Mora Jr., firing, which came after he expressed on talk radio his desire to coach at the . The Falcons hit bottom when Mora’s replacement, Bobby Petrino, quit with three games remaining in a 4-12 2007 season.

The moves prompted Falcons owner Arthur Blank to pledge going forward that he would choose substance and character over flash and style. To get it done, he hired general manager Thomas Dimitroff — a little-known director of college scouting for the .

Dimitroff’s hiring led to Atlanta signing Smith — the ‘ defensive coordinator — free agent running back Michael Turner and drafting quarterback Matt Ryan.

“Matty Ice” as Ryan is known, was the 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. But like many of his teammates — including White, Turner and defensive end — Ryan isn’t in discussions about the NFL’s elite.

White, a three-time Pro Bowler, has 70 catches, seven for TDs, and is second in the league with 934 yards receiving. Turner has 733 yards rushing and should easily post his second 1,000-yard season in three years. Abraham is fourth in the league with 8 sacks.

Then there’s Ryan, coming off a breakout game against the Ravens in which he threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner to White with 20 seconds remaining. Ryan’s 16 TD passes with only five interceptions are almost identical to this year’s numbers from and , but it’s still too early for Ryan to be grouped with the top quarterbacks.

It all adds up to Atlanta playing for a still-skeptical national audience. Winning seems to generate more questions about whether they are for real than buzz about their success.

The Falcons aren’t complaining, particularly Abraham.

He played under the media microscope during his six seasons with the and is happy with the peaceful quiet — and success — of the Smith regime.

“I kind of like it,” Abraham said. “I think it’s good for us that people are still talking about other teams being better than us. We’re just going to continue to keep winning and as long as we keep winning I really don’t care necessarily about what they’re saying.”