NFC South | Atlanta Falcons Tickets

Falcons Sign Coach Smith to 3-Year Extension

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have signed coach Mike Smith to a three-year contract extension after he led the team to the NFC South title.

The deal announced Thursday locks up Smith through 2014.

Smith was a little-known defensive coordinator at Jacksonville when he initially signed a four-year contract with the Falcons in 2008, taking over a team coming off a dismal 4-12 season that included star quarterback going to prison and coach Bobby Petrino leaving the team after just 13 games.

Atlanta quickly turned things around under Smith, going 11-5 and making the playoffs in his first season. The Falcons followed with a 9-7 mark — the first consecutive winning years in franchise history — and then went 13-3 this season, earning the top seed in the NFC playoffs.

They were routed by 48-21 in the divisional round, but that didn’t nothing to lessen the confidence of owner Arthur Blank. He moved quickly to keep Smith around another four years.

“When we hired Mike Smith in 2008, we believed we had found the total package: a head coach with strong leadership skills and experience and the track record to back it up, and a man of high character and integrity,” Blank said in a statement. “In his three seasons with us, coach Smith has demonstrated all of these characteristics, and then some.”

Smith has a cumulative record of 33-15, easily the best three-year coaching mark in franchise history. The only blemish on his resume is an 0-2 mark in the playoffs.

“I am looking forward to continuing to build upon the solid foundation we have in place within our organization and on our football team,” Smith said. “We are going to continue to work as hard as we can to bring a championship to Falcons fans and to the city of Atlanta.”

Seahawks, Colts, Falcons and Steelers Win Titles

Yep, those were championship hats the were wearing.

Nope, they aren’t ashamed one bit.

The Seahawks became the first NFL division winner with a losing record — that dates to 1933, folks — when they beat St. Louis 16-6 on Sunday night. At 7-9, they are NFC West champions, while two 10-6 clubs (Tampa Bay and the ) are out of the postseason.

Apologize for their fortune? Forget it.

“It just shows that no matter what happens through an awkward year, if a team sticks together they can have a shot at the end to accomplish what they talked about in the beginning,” safety Lawyer Milloy said. “We know it wasn’t pretty getting here, but what we talked about was right there at the end and we took advantage of it. Nobody can take that away from us.”

Indianapolis tied an NFL record with its ninth straight playoff berth by beating Tennessee 23-20 on ‘s 43-yard field goal as time expired. The (10-6), host the wild-card (11-4), who routed Buffalo 38-7, next Saturday night.

Atlanta secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, winning the NFC South by defeating Carolina 31-10. The Falcons (13-3) get a bye next week, as do the NFC North champion Bears (11-5), who fell at 10-3, giving the Packers (10-6) a wild-card spot.

Green Bay visits Philadelphia (10-6), the NFC East champ, next Sunday after AFC West winner Kansas City (10-6) hosts Baltimore (12-4).

Along with Atlanta, teams with byes are New England, which finished a league-best 14-2; Pittsburgh (12-4); and Chicago.

Failing to make the playoffs in the NFC were the Giants and Buccaneers, the first time since 1991 that a 10-6 team didn’t get in from the NFC.

Seahawks 16, 6

At Seattle, both teams finished 7-9 in the mild, mild West, with Seattle getting the nod thanks to a 4-2 division record. St. Louis was 3-3.

Making his second career start, backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst threw a 4-yard TD pass on Seattle’s first possession, and Olindo Mare kicked three second-half field goals. A defense that yielded at least 34 points in three straight losses was stingy against Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford and 1,000-yard rusher Steven Jackson.

Colts 23, 20

At Indianapolis, threw two touchdown passes before Vinatieri’s clutch kick. The Colts tied Dallas’ NFL record for consecutive playoff appearances as Manning set the single-season record for completions with 450.

Tennessee (6-10) lost eight of its last nine. Chris Johnson, a 2,000-yard rusher a year ago, ran 20 times for 39 yards and finished with 1,364.

Falcons 31, 10

At Atlanta, the Falcons earned their first division title since 2004. Matt Ryan passed for 236 yards with TDs to Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, and Eric Weems scored on a 55-yard punt return.

Carolina (2-14) had a weak finish to an awful season under coach John Fox as the league’s worst offense was held without a touchdown until the final minute. The Panthers announced Friday that this was Fox’s last game as coach.

41, Browns 9

At Cleveland, threw two touchdown passes, including a 56-yarder to on his first pass. Wallace had three catches for 105 yards.

Browns coach ‘s record has been 5-11 in each of his two seasons. On Monday, he’s scheduled to meet with team president .

Packers 10, Bears 3

At Green Bay, Wis., Aaron Rodgers’ 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Donald Lee gave the Packers the lead, and their defense held on to clinch a wild card.

The Packers trailed 3-0 at halftime and were tied going into the fourth quarter with the Bears, who didn’t have anything to play for in terms of playoff seeding, but still played to win with their starters.

38, 7

At Foxborough, Mass., threw two touchdown passes to cap a record-setting season as New England won its eighth straight.

The game meant nothing in the standings. Still, Brady played into the third quarter and finished with 36 touchdowns passing and four interceptions. He extended his NFL records to 335 straight passes without an interception and 28 consecutive regular-season wins as a starter at home.

The Dolphins (7-9) lost for the fourth time in five games, jeopardizing the job of coach Tony Sparano.

13, 7

At Baltimore, Ed Reed had two interceptions and recovered two fumbles, part of an opportunistic defense that carried Baltimore.

Ray Rice scored on a 7-yard run and Billy Cundiff kicked two field goals for the Ravens, who forced five turnovers to offset the 395 yards in offense amassed by the Bengals (4-12).

Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis’ contract ran out with the loss.

Jets 38, 7

At East Rutherford, N.J., threw two touchdown passes in relief of , Joe McKnight ran for a career-high 158 yards and the Jets’ defense dominated.

Having already clinched a postseason spot, New York sat a handful of starters, including LaDainian Tomlinson and Darrelle Revis, but still earned the fourth 11-win season in franchise history — and first since the 1998 team went to the AFC championship game.

Buffalo finished 4-12, out of the playoffs for the 11th successive season.

Buccaneers 23, 13

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.