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For Falcons, So Much Progress and So Little to Cheer

In their first home playoff game since 2005, the Falcons fell down during the second quarter Saturday night and could never rise up off the turf. Their partisans began to flee the Georgia Dome halfway through the third quarter, as if they had encountered .

After a , who progressed to the N.F.C. championship game next Sunday against the , “rise up” gave way in the losing locker room to variations of “we will learn from this.”

“You get all those wins to get into this position,” Falcons running back Michael Turner said of a 13-3 regular season that led to a top seed in the playoffs. “To not be able to take advantage of having home field is shocking right now.”

The lesson learned?

“The main thing is that nothing is guaranteed,” he said. “Just because you have home field doesn’t mean you can just walk through the playoffs. It’s a totally different season once the playoffs start.”

On Sunday, between exit interviews with players, that the Falcons must figure out how to convert the good works of September to December into better works in what he termed “the second season.”

“Ultimately, when your expectations are raised, you’re not necessarily talking about just the regular season,” Smith said. “You start talking about the second season, and that’s something that we’ve earned.

He added: “We’re going to have to be able to deal with it because we plan on being in this situation again very shortly.”

Owing to their middling rankings in a few of the league’s principal statistical categories, the Falcons’ shiny record was assessed in some corners as deceptive. Their offense does not produce big plays on cue, and their defense is one year removed from being overhauled.

Still, there were numerically validated areas of strength, many of which the Falcons betrayed Saturday.

¶Penalized the least of all teams, they were flagged a season-high seven times.

¶Third in fewest sacks allowed, they allowed five, also a season high.

¶Fourth in turnover differential, they committed four while forcing only one.

¶Eighth in time of possession, they held the ball barely a third of the game (21 minutes 41 seconds).

The ’ scoring drives were so long — four covered at least 80 yards — that the Atlanta offense could have napped on the bench. The only punting by Green Bay’s Tim Masthay was into the practice netting on the sideline.

The Falcons’ defense did not display the togetherness illustrated last Monday, when Kroy Biermann rescued his fellow defensive end after Abraham’s vehicle spun off an icy interstate highway on the way to practice. Abraham was unhurt.

“There were a number of opportunities, especially on third down, where we had opportunities to make plays and we didn’t get them done,” said Smith, who counted four potential sacks that were not finished off.

Atlanta’s offense, with five Pro Bowl selections and an alternate, gave voters reason to re-examine their ballots, especially the ones listing Matt Ryan instead of Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.

Ryan, in his third year, is one of the ’s best young quarterbacks. His status is reflected with appearances in freshly released .

But Rodgers was the sharpest passer Saturday, with a performance that Smith said measured up to only one other in his memory — by .

The Falcons are not big spenders in free agency; their team salary of $121.3 million was the lowest among the N.F.L.’s final eight, and they are disinclined to bring in high-priced players before next season.

In fact, they will lose one if tight end Tony Gonzalez retires. Few felt the pain of Saturday’s defeat more than Gonzalez, a 14-year veteran. He has prompted the announcer’s call of “complete to Gonzalez” more than any other tight end in league history, but his career remains incomplete without a playoff victory.

“It’s tough, real tough,” said Gonzalez, who said he would evaluate his future in the coming weeks. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

The sting from the franchise’s most crushing postseason loss yet — with only 16 playoff games, the sample is small — could trigger cries from the Falcons faithful for a makeover. While the “rise up” slogan may fade away, Smith favors no major alterations.

“The perception in this league is that you’re only as good as your last game; it’s really not reality,” he said. “The sky is not falling. I can assure you of that. We played a very poor football game. I don’t think you want to overreact.”

As Turner Soars So Do the Falcons

Turner, the Falcons’ 5-foot-10, 244-pound running back is a squat target, all shoulder pads and knee pads as he plows to the hole. If he rushes for 100 yards, the passing game is a more substantial threat. If he churns first downs, it means that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will have to stew on the sidelines and watch a game of Monopoly by the home team.

“The way to really spark this team is to get the run game going,” Turner said. “That’s the easiest way to get us going.”

The Falcons can win on Saturday night at the Georgia Dome if quarterback Matt Ryan can make plays to wide receiver Roddy White and tight end Tony Gonzalez and if Turner can beat the run blitz, which is sure to come.

“If teams run blitz and you can get your running back started, there’s going to be chances for big plays because they’re going to have the safety down and there’s going to be one guy left in the middle of the field,” center Todd McClure said. “If we can get him to that second level, that’s where he can do some damage; just get him to his first cut.”

Turner, who is in the third season of a six-year deal that pays $34.5 million, led the N.F.C. in rushing with 1,371 yards. He scored 12 touchdowns and had seven games of 100-plus yards, even as part of an offense that completed the seventh most passes in the (361).

The consequences for the defense when Turner gets to the second level — face-to-face with a cornerback, safety or outside linebacker — are that the thick Turner can block for the decently fast Turner. He does not need an escort. His shoulder pads hit the safety or corner; his legs carry him past.

Turner ranked fourth in the N.F.L. with yards after contact (694). He has nine runs over 20 yards. The Falcons do not call him Burner Turner. They call him MARTA, for the commuter train system in Atlanta.

Turner was called something much worse following an injury-marred 2009 season, in which he rushed for 871 yards. There was a list full of derision: one-hit wonder, fat and happy, a flash in the pan, and on and on.

In his first season in Atlanta in 2008 after backing up LaDainian Tomlinson for four seasons in San Diego, Turner ran for 1,699 yards and 17 touchdowns and helped carry the Falcons to the playoffs.

In 2009, the yards plummeted, not just because of the high-ankle sprain, but because Turner was heavier and not as fine-tuned. He intended to rest his body following his first full season as a starter in 2008, but he took it too far and gained weight. The ankle injury, which sidelined him five games, was the primary reason he slumped, but Turner knew conditioning was a factor, too.

In the Falcons’ locker room Wednesday, which was filled with media, Turner had a chance to perhaps chortle and stiff arm some of the critics. Instead, after practice, he went right to his regular routine of lifting weights.

When he came back to his locker, there were only four minutes left for the media’s allowed time in the locker room. At first, he shrugged off the notion that he was motivated this season by criticism.

“I was so focused on this year and so focused on finishing strong I haven’t had a chance to sit back and think about what I’m accomplishing this year,” Turner said.

Asked if was satisfying to see his career get back on track, Turner said: “It sticks with you, that’s something you keep in the back of your mind because you want to prove people wrong. As a competitor that’s your nature; to prove people wrong. You know you have the ability to do something and people are still out there saying you can’t do it.

“I think that’s behind me now,” he said. “I don’t think people can say I was a one-hit wonder.”

Against Green Bay, when the Atlanta offense comes to the line, receivers and backs will shift and go in motion, all designed to slow the Packers’ reactions because the defenders are considering where the ball might go.

If the Falcons have their way, it will not be complicated. The ball will go straight ahead with Turner.

Saints Top Falcons to Claim Playoff Spot

The (11-4) earned the opportunity under fire Monday night, shaking off the Atlanta Falcons by 17-14 in the charged atmosphere of the Georgia Dome.

The win gets New Orleans through the playoff turnstile, assuring them at minimum a wild-card berth. The Saints, who host the in the season finale, can still win the N.F.C. South, but it is not likely. Atlanta (12-3) would have to stumble at home against lowly Carolina.

“It feels good,” Saints quarterback said after the game. “You just want to punch your ticket to the big show, and we’ve done that.”

It took awhile this season for the Saints to discover that, as the defending Super Bowl champions, “Everybody is going to give you their best shot,” safety Roman Harper said. “No game is just a gimme.”

“Everybody plays the champs like it’s a playoff game every time,” defensive tackle Remi Ayodele said. “We’re just trying to get into the tournament. Give us a shot.”

The Falcons, driven to show skeptics that their status as the pending top N.F.C. seed is no fluke, led by 14-10 well into the fourth quarter. After an Atlanta punt, New Orleans stared at a gulf of 90 yards between the line of scrimmage and the goal line.

But Brees shook off a dreadful start to the period and whipped his squad to the winning score, a 6-yard pass to Jimmy Graham with three and a half minutes left.

“He’s gonna come through for us,” Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said of Brees. “We never worry about Drew Brees.”

The teams flipped the anticipated script on a clash of forceful offenses — New Orleans’s quick strike, Atlanta’s ball control — with a defensive tour de force.

Setting the tone in the first quarter were the teams’ six combined punts, nearly matching the rushing total, 7 yards.

“We made them do something else than let them run Michael Turner and throw to Tony Gonzalez,” the Saints’ Harper said.

Defensive end Alex Brown said: “We gang-tackled. We were pretty sound all night.”

The Falcons’ defense seemingly turned the game in their favor with a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions, neither by a defensive back.

Brees tossed a high-risk pass with the Falcons’ Jonathan Babineaux wrapped around him. Defensive end Chauncey Davis picked it off and lumbered 26 yards to lift Atlanta in front, 14-10.

In no time, Brees found Marques Colston in the end zone for an apparent go-ahead score, but a penalty wiped it out. On the next play, Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon deflected a Brees pass and plucked it out of midair to stave off the threat.

The Falcons’ defense thought it had induced yet another turnover, pouncing on a fumble that would have set up their offense a step outside the red zone with just over two minutes left. But a replay rightly reversed the call.

Though unexpectedly short of scoring, the game fit nicely into a rivalry that is one of the ’s least appreciated, partly because of its provincial nature and sorry legacy of insignificant games.

The league’s two most deeply Southern cities broke in their teams a year apart in the mid-1960s. During decades of mostly inept seasons — until the Saints’ Super Bowl run last year, the franchises had combined for only eight playoff wins — the twice-annual games were highlighted on fans’ schedules.

The animus was altered when sent thousands of New Orleans residents to the Atlanta area, where many resettled for good. Some switched, or at least split, their allegiances, while others stayed loud and proud.

Atlanta inadvertently did its part to help restore New Orleans, losing to the Saints in the first post-Katrina game at the Superdome four seasons ago.

The rivalry, if changed, remains intense, and Falcons wide receiver Roddy White fanned the flames last week with the thoroughly modern version of athletics trash talk: posting on . Though White also posted an apology on Twitter, he was often at the center of chippy play early Monday.

Late in the first half, White helped Atlanta cut the deficit to 10-7 on a 7-yard scoring catch, the 3-point margin being a 52-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley.

Hartley almost lost his job by misfiring from about half that distance in overtime of a loss to Atlanta in September, the low point of the Saints’ bumpy 4-3 start.

The Saints promptly added the veteran John Carney to the roster, which scared Harley straight, and he returned to good graces a few weeks later.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, 19-1 as a starter at home before Monday, could not rescue his team. Atlanta fans, many of them unwilling to let go of the era by wearing his old No. 7 jersey to games, now prefer Ryan’s No. 2 as their fashion statement.

But the player known as Matty Ice never warmed up, steering his offense to a single score.

“We just didn’t make the plays,” Falcons Coach Mike Smith said. “We still like where we’re at.”

So do the Saints, their chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions not rinsed away.