Strong Finishes a New Trademark?

For a quarter-by-quarter look at the Falcons victory over the Bills, check out John Manasso’s Beat Blog. You can also get play-by-play information and stats in the NFL.com Game Center.

Three times in the 44 years of the franchise, the Falcons have had legitimate shots to recored back-to-back winning seasons. That is, they were above .500 with three or less games to play.

Three times the Birds collapsed and lost two or more straight games to put a winning season on ice.

But this time it’s different.

With a win next week in Tampa the Falcons will finish 2009 with a 9-7 record, have back-to-back winning seasons for the first time ever and notch back-to-back three-game winning streaks to close a season.

The early trademark of the Mike Smith’s Falcons? Finishing strong.

The Birds are now 12-1 under Smitty when leading at halftime and a perfect 2-0 when a winning season is on the line.

First Atlanta took care of a New York Jets team — on the road — that had the league’s top scoring defense and No. 1 running game. Sunday the Falcons dispatched the 5-10 Buffalo Bills with gusto, 31-3.

With a 21-point second half, three touchdown passes by Matt Ryan, a defense that surrendered just 178 yard,  forced three turnovers and a fumble for a touchdown and a 139-yard, two-score game from Roddy White, the Falcons left no doubt.

Atlanta also held the ball for nearly 35 minutes in the game, including 11:58 in the final quarter.

“As a team, it is something we want to keep going,” Ryan said. “We feel like over the past two years, we’ve created a home-field advantage and that is a credit to our fans as well. They play a big part in our success at home. One example is the incredible noise in which they generate when opposing offenses are on the field. The biggest thing is to make it is long-term, however. We did a good job of starting it and we have to make sure to finish strong in that regard.”

And they did it despite one of the strangest in-game injury groupings in team history. Some may say the football gods did just about anything to keep the Falcons from winning but, again, they finished strong.

The team lost its punter, holder and kickoff specialist Michael Koenen. Kicker Matt Bryant started to fill in, but pulled a hamstring. He managed to kick extra points the rest of the game (with starting quarterback Ryan holding) but it was up to backup quarterback Chris Redman to be the team’s punter, if needed, for a large portion of the second half.

Atlanta also lost Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez (calf) and tackle Sam Baker (hamstring) in the second half.

No surprise it all seemed to phase the Falcons as much as a forecast of snow at the North Pole.

The never-say-die attitude of this team manifests itself in comments from the head coach — a tireless motivator — and a growing number of big hits and big plays from players young and old.

Sunday rookie Lawrence Sidbury had his first career touchdown on a fumble return. Rookie cornerback Christopher Owens got his first career interception. Second-year corner Brent Grimes got his third interception in two games.

“Our performance today was near perfect,” linebacker Mike Peterson said. “The only way it would have been more perfect, is if we would have kept them from making a field goal. If you look at the points, you could say we had a perfect game. Overall, if we can come out with a win, I’ll take those three points.”

Somewhere in the mix of stats, pleasantries and anecdotes the Falcons have re-discovered a winning formula.

It’s too late for the playoffs but not for a piece of history unique to this oft-tested franchise. But that’s speaking too much of the old. Today in Atlanta, it’s all about the new.

MORE FALCONS-BILLS COVERAGE:

• GAMEDAY LIVE: Complete Falcons-Bills coverage from AF.com
• GAME RECAP: John Manasso takes a look at some of the key moments
• GAME CENTER: Stats and more from NFL.com
• FIRST TAKE: Daver Archer chats with some of the key contributors
• MULTIMEDIA: Highlights and more player interviews from Falcons-Bills
• J. MIKE’S MISSIVES: Additional thoughts from the AF.com Managing Editor
• THE BEAT BLOG: Quarter-by-quarter updates from AF.com’s John Manasso
• GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Falcons-Bills game
• TRANSCRIPTS: Postgame thoughts from Falcons players | Bills
• INACTIVES: Game inactives and starters from Sunday afternoon
• PHOTOS: Images from the Falcons 31-3 win over the Buffalo Bills
• FORUMS: Talk about the game with other fans on FalconsLIFE