Relax.

For the players gathered at Flowery Branch on Monday, their primary objective was to continue to learn the Falcons way of doing things.

“I think that’s the biggest thing, when they left here a week ago they didn’t have any idea where the cafeteria was or where the meeting rooms were,” said Smith after Monday’s initial practice. “The familiarity and just for them to relax. They’ve been very successful football players and that’s why they’re here and we want to give them an opportunity to come in and compete.”

Smith said the practices, three more to come this week, would be run in similar sequences and order as last weekend’s full-team minicamp. His hope is to continue to get his young players up to speed; a speed that flashed by them as the team’s veterans largely controlled last weekend’s gathering.

The lack of the more experienced veterans gives the rookies more face time with the coaches and more snaps to learn. The head coach believes the learning curve is still steep for the rookies, but the extra time and rookie-on-rookie evaluation is critical.

“At the minicamp these guys did not get many snaps so they’re getting all the snaps, getting all the attention,” Smith said. “It becomes very evident that they’ve got a lot to learn even though we gave them a bunch of information there in the first five practices it was a little bit overwhelming for them.”

Due to the quantity the players are being exposed to, Smith believes the rookies will need to learn and get up to speed as quickly as possible. Despite his reminder to relax, the rookie-only minicamp is about relearning minicamp lessons and absorbing the playbook.

It could be the most intense study session in their football lives.

“Whether they’ve had to cram for a test in college or they’ve got a bunch of information they’ve got to digest, this is the biggest cram that they’re ever going to have,” said Smith. “They need to really get in here in these next seven days, until next Monday, and try to get as much information as they can about our system.”

Monday’s minicamp marks the first rookie minicamp Smith has conducted in his three years with the Falcons. In past years, the team’s rookies gathered in informal practices to continue to learn, but the coaching staff changed things up this year.

“We felt like it might be beneficial to put it in a more structured fashion so the guys will learn how we practice, learn how we meet,” said Smith. “These guys have basically gone through the same thing that they went through in minicamp in terms of the sequencing of the day.”

Offensive linemen Rob Bruggeman, Blake Schlueter, and Jose Valdez, running back Antone Smith, and wide receiver Andy Strickland, all members of last year’s practice squad, joined the team’s 25 rookies. All seven 2010 draft choices were also present at Monday’s minicamp.

–Daniel Cox, Atlantafalcons.com Contributing Writer

As the Falcons entered a new chapter in team history, perhaps the enduring image will be that of running back Jason Snelling breaking tackle after tackle, twisting and turning away from Tampa Bay defenders on a 22-yard, fourth-quarter run that was fraught with meaning.

In the Falcons’ 20-10 victory that earned the franchise its first back-to-back winning seasons in its 44-year history, there were bigger plays, notably two interceptions. Rookie cornerback Christopher Owens (looks like he’s a keeper) intercepted Josh Freeman in the fourth quarter immediately following Sabby Piscitelli’s interception of Matt Ryan for what might have been the play of the game and Brent Grimes’ interception in the end zone with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter to protect the lead ranks up there, too.

But the sight of Snelling, a determined, skilled back-up who earned his first career 100-yard game with 25 carries for 147 yards, churning his knees and pushing onward on the game-winning touchdown drive tells the story. Thanks to Snelling’s run, the Falcons earned a first down at the Bucs’ 16 and the Falcons scored three plays later, as Roddy White tip-toed down the sideline for a 12-yard score with 7:26 left in regulation.

When the standings are final at the end of the day, the Falcons will end up missing the playoffs by perhaps only one game. It’s one of a number of disappointments the team suffered through this season along with a slew of injuries to key players and a few missed plays here or there.

But if the Falcons accomplished one thing this season beyond the obvious, it might be what Head Coach Mike Smith talked about on Wednesday.

Smith said he wants the franchise to be relevant on a yearly basis. Certainly, the Falcons were that this season. For proof, look at their game on Monday Night Football with New Orleans, on Football Night in America against Chicago and in December against Philadelphia with huge playoff implications looming. Even in a season of setbacks, Smith’s Falcons, embodied today by Snelling’s effort, demonstrated that they ought to be relevant next year and beyond.

The Falcons, playing on the road, dominated a three-win team the way a perennial winner ought to.

They outgained the Bucs in total yards 397 to 206 and won time of possession by a whopping 35:29 to 24:31. They ran 18 more plays than Tampa Bay, even though they lost the turnover battle, 3-2. Nowhere was the game more one-sided than in the rushing department, as the Falcons totaled 183 yards to Tampa Bay’s 38 — a credit to Brian VanGorder’s defense, which only allowed 20 points in its final three games, all of them wins.

And Ryan, who took his lumps this season, including on Sunday, completed 23 of 35 passes for 223 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Of course he has too much decorum, but one could forgive Falcons Owner Arthur Blank if he imitated his Saints’ counterpart Tom Benson and did an exaggerated, celebratory jig. Perhaps he will save that for a day when the franchise, which has been to conference championship games and lost a Super Bowl, achieves a more meaningful first.

The Falcons lead in time of possession 28:04 to 16:56. They lead in total yards 283-86. But the Bucs lead in turnovers 2 to 0 and so the  Falcons’ lead is only seven points.

The Falcons run of successful series came to an end with Tanard Jackson’s interception at the Bucs’ 28-yard line with 10:56 left in the third quarter. Falcons quarterback Ryan had not thrown an interception since Nov. 15, a run of five straight games and 143 attempts in those games, as Ryan missed two games and most of a third with a toe injury. In his last five games, Ryan had thrown seven touchdowns against no interceptions over 143 attempts without an interception until Jackson’s.

Then Corey Lynch blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt after an impressive drive that started at the Falcons’ 2.

The fourth quarter will begin ominously with the Bucs driving.

They got a big break when the umpire got in the way of Falcons defensive lineman Trey Lewis, effectively blocking him and allowing Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman to complete a first-down pass under pressure.

With the Falcons’ defense dominating — the Bucs’ only points came on a fumble deep in Falcons’ territory — the Falcons are setting themselves up to finish 9-7 and make history with the organization’s first back-to-back winning seasons.

Justin’s Peelle’s 2-yard touchdown reception on third down as time expired at the end of the second quarter put the Falcons on top. The catch was huge, as the Falcons, having burned all three timeouts, would not have had time to line up for a 20-yard field goal to go ahead 6-3 if the pass had fallen incomplete.

Statistically, the defense is having one of its best games of the season. They have held Tampa Bay to 52 yards total offense, 25 passing and 27 rushing. And Matt Ryan is having his third-straight strong game. Ryan has completed 16 of 22 passes (73 percent) for 152 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions for a 106.6 rating.

After the offense sputtered in the first half and early in the second, the Falcons appear to have found something with the no huddle or “sugar” huddle, as the FOX broadcast team is calling it. Those last three drives went deep into Tampa Bay territory and after the first fizzled out, possibly with the Falcons afraid to attempt a long field goal, the Birds finally got on the board with Matt Bryant’s 36-yard field goal with 4:14 left before halftime.
The Falcons completed passes of 7, 19, 8 and 8 yards on that drive but the biggest play of the drive was a penalty on the Bucs’ 13-year veteran cornerback Ronde Barber, negating Barber’s interception on the play deep in the Falcons’ side of the field.

The Falcons appeared to have caught a break on that call, with Barber getting called for a 5-yard holding call on Michael Jenkins. Replays showed very little contact on the play. FOX analyst Charles Davis said the call was “a little ticky-tackish.”

“I didn’t really see a hold, ” Davis said. “What happened to that 13-year privilege?”

Roddy’s White’s 19-yard grab was the biggest on the drive.

On the earlier drive, Peelle’s 32-yard reception put the Falcons near midfield but later left tackle Sam Baker missed a block and blitzing linebacker Geno Hayes sacked Matt Ryan for 9-yard loss on third down. That would have meant a 52-yard attempt for Bryant, who hurt his hamstring last week but who is playing nonetheless. Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith chose to go for it on fourth-and-15 but Jason Snelling came up short after a pass reception.

The FOX broadcast showed video of Bryant during pregame warm-ups coming up short and after the 36-yard field goal, punter Michael Koenen kicked off. So it looks obvious that the Falcons — or at least Bryant — will not attempt any long field goals.

Unless the Bucs can come up with something dramatic, the Falcons appear to be in control.

The Falcons have hurt themselves with mistakes on offense and special teams, while the defense has continued its excellent play of the last two games as the Birds trail by 3-0 at the end of the first 15 minutes.

But we enter the second quarter with both teams combining for 62 yards offense, 31 apiece.

The game started inauspiciously for the Falcons when Eric Weems fumbled on the opening kickoff after he was hit by Tanard Jackson. Kareem Huggins recovered and the Falcons challenged, as it appeared Weems might have fumbled after hitting the ground, but the ruling on the field was upheld and the Buccaneers took over at the Falcons’ 28-yard line. The Falcons’ defense, aided by John Abraham’s 4-yard tackle for loss, did well to hold Tampa to a field goal.

On the Falcons’ first drive, a mental mistake — an illegal man downfield penalty on right tackle Tyson Clabo — negated a short gain to Tony Gonzalez, who is playing with an injured calf but needs only four catches to become the first tight end to reach 1,000 for his career. In addition to a catch for Gonzalez, the play cost the Falcons a first down on that series, as the Falcons gained 14 yards but ended up one short and had to punt.

On a later possession, Clabo was seen getting beaten by Bucs’ defensive lineman Stylez G. White, who put a hit on quarterback Matt Ryan after Ryan let go a pass attempt. This play should have sent shivers down the necks of Falcons fans, as it was White who put Ryan out with that turf toe injury in the teams’ first meeting.

The Falcons also have been losing the battle of field position, which is not how Head Coach Mike Smith likes to play.

Michael Koenen’s first two punts were for 29 and 30 yards. He redeemed himself with a 46-yarder on his third. (Three punts in one quarter)? Again, the Falcons’ defense got stops. Chauncey Davis, starting in place of injured Jamaal Anderson, got a sack to help end one.

Looking at the standings as the day begins, it looks like if the Falcons beat Tampa Bay to finish 9-7 then they won’t have missed the playoffs by much.

A 10-6 record will have been necessary at a minimum – potentially meaning the Falcons could have made the playoffs by winning one more game – but it’s also possible that 11-5 could end up being the standard if Green Bay (10-5) beats Arizona (10-5) and Dallas (10-5) beats Philadelphia (11-4).

Of course, the Falcons would have had to have won the right game or combination of games to have earned an NFC Wildcard playoff berth at 10-6 or 11-5. And their closest losses did not come against either Dallas or Philadelphia – both of those were blowouts. If the Falcons had lost a close game to one of those two teams, it might be a lot easier to huff and puff about one play here or there.

Nonetheless, here comes some huffing and puffing a few plays here or there could have changed the outcome of the season. The Falcons’ most lamentable losses came against the New York Giants, the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints.

In the Giants game, Jason Elam missed a field goal and Michael Jenkins dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone. If the Falcons had made either of those plays, they likely would have won in regulation. (They lost in overtime 34-31.)

In the Carolina game, Elam missed a field goal late in regulation that would have put the Falcons up 22-21. A few plays later, Carolina broke a long touchdown run to win 28-19, making the score appear not nearly as close as the game was.

While both Saints games were close – and a missed Elam field goal figured prominently in the Falcons’ 35-27 loss on Nov. 2 at the Superdome — to me one play stood out more in the 26-23 loss at the Georgia Dome on Dec. 13. That was the pass interference call that Falcons’ defensive back Brent Grimes earned while defending Saints’ receiver Robert Meachem, negating Grimes’ interception on the play. It was a weak call at best and New Orleans scored a touchdown a few plays later. This was the infamous play in which photographers caught Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith red-faced and slamming his headset against the ground in anger. If there was no call on the play, then the Saints could have potentially lost a touchdown and, again, the Falcons might have won.

Of course, all of this highly speculative, but that’s the fun of looking back after the fact, isn’t it? The Cowboys and Packers both own 8-3 conference records so the Falcons would have had to have won all three of those games and at that point they would be 11-4 today – which is a highly improbable idea.

If nothing else, this exercise shows why NFL coaches are the demanding taskmasters that they are. I’ve heard coach Smith in his Monday press conferences talk about how games are won and lost on about five or six plays in a game. Sometimes it’s one play. And so a season also can come down to five or six plays. If those above had gone the other way, the Falcons could be getting ready for the playoffs next week. Instead, they will have to think about what might have been.

That means that Matt Bryant, the former Tampa Bay kicker, likely will be well enough to kick against his former team despite the hamstring injury he suffered while punting last week in place of Michael Koenen, who was out with a head injury at the time.

On the defensive line, I believe it’s the first time this season that the Falcons have two starters out.

Chauncey Davis, who had that big blocked field goal against the Jets and the forced fumble that resulted in Lawrence Sidbury’s defensive score in last week’s win over Buffalo, earns the start for Anderson and rookie Vance Walker, the team’s seventh-round draft pick out of Georgia Tech in 2009, earns his first NFL start.

What a journey for Walker.

He has gone from inactive for the season’s first six games to rising past others on the depth chart, helped along by injuries to Peria Jerry and now Johnson, to starting. He has earned it. He has played the team’s last 10 games and has 12 tackles, including 11 solo. He also has defended two passes — meaning he knocked them down at the line of scrimmage.

In previous weeks, the following sentence would have been the first one of this post: Matt Ryan (injured toe) will start at quarterback and Michael Turner (sprained ankle) will be inactive. However, at this juncture, it’s not much of surprise that Turner will miss his second-straight game and Ryan will start his third straight after missing most of three games.

Since He was injured on Nov. 15 against Carolina, Turner has played in only two of the teams final seven games, having carried the ball only 13 times for 40 yards and re-injuring himself in each of those games in which he appeared. It’s sort of a sad commentary on the way the season went, but not at all surprising that the Falcons were not so successful down the stretch, considering they were mostly without the services of a player who rushed for 1,699 yards last season and finished third in the MVP balloting. Jerious Norwood will start in Turner’s place.

The other inactives are: John Parker Wilson (third quarterback), wide receiver Troy Bergeron, fullback Verron Haynes and safety Charlie Peprah.

Both Tony Gonzalez and Matt Ryan stated on Wednesday that one goal to end this season would be to finish with a winning record, giving the franchise its first back-to-back winning seasons since the team began playing in 1966.

The Falcons now stand one win a way and next week’s opponent is the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers, albeit a team that the Falcons needed a last-minute touchdown pass to defeat in their earlier meeting.

The Bucaneers (3-12 after an upset win over the Saints) have played relatively well since Josh Freeman became their starting quarterback and head coach Raheem Morris took over the defensive coordinator’s duties. However, the Falcons appear to be on a roll. They’ve won two straight to move to 8-7.

A made field goal here or there and we could be talking about a playoff team. But that’s spilled milk, as they say.

By final margin, Sunday’s 31-3 win over Buffalo was the Falcons’ second most impressive of the season after Oct. 11’s 45-10 mauling of San Francisco on the road. Buffalo has a pitiful offense but credit the Falcons’ defense for making it look that way. They recorded two interceptions, a fumble that they turned into a defensive score and sacks. Basically, the window in which Buffalo had a meaningful chance to win the game was very limited from the game’s opening minutes.

As has been the case all season, the Falcons encountered more injuries and that could affect their chances next week against Tampa Bay. They might have to sign a punter or a place kicker on an emergency basis if Michael Koenen (head) and/or Matt Bryant (hamstring) are unable to perform. Those are key duties, as the Falcons have painfully learned.

In addition, two offensive starters — tight end Tony Gonzalez (calf) and left tackle Sam Baker (hamstring) — left the game and did not return. The offense began the day without staters Michael Turner at running back and right guard Harvey Dahl. Playing without four offensive starters, as happend in the Falcons’ worst loss of the season 34-7 against Philadelphia, is not easily done.

But one gets the sense that these Birds have righted the ship, even if it has come too late to play in the postseason.

Pro Bowl wide receiver Roddy White had a monster performance on Sunday with 139 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches. Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood combined for more than 100 yards rushing. And Ryan, to use one of Head Coach Mike Smith’s favorite words, was very efficient in throwing for three touchdowns and no interceptions to produce a 103.3 rating, his third highest of the season.

The Falcons are 2-5 on the road and the Bucs are tied with NFC South division champion at 17-17 in the final minute of regulation.

If nothing else, it’ll definitely be worth watching.

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

They lead 24-3 entering the fourth. That will likely set up next week as a chance to finish the season with three straight victories and a winning season — which would give the franchise its first back-to-back winning seasons in its history.

But now back to the third quarter.

It was a bizarre period with both punter Michael Koenen (head) and place kicker Matt Bryant (hamstring) hurt and unable to perform at times. Koenen also serves as the holder on field goals and his absence appeared to be the reason why the Falcons elected to go for it on fourth-and-12 from Buffalo’s 29 instead of attempting a 47-yard field goal — in retrospect, Bryant’s injury probably also had something to do with that. The Falcons converted with a 14-yard pass to Roddy White, who has five catches for 112 yards and a touchdown today. Three plays later, Ryan hit Marty Booker for a 12-yard touchdown pass, Booker’s first scoring reception of the season.

On Buffalo’s ensuing possession, Chauncey Davis forced a fumble by the Bills’ Fred Jackson at the Bills’ 12 and rookie defensive end Lawrence Sidbury returned it 11 yards for a touchdown, making the score 24-0. It was Sidbury’s first career touchdown.

Bryant came on for the extra point, but the 260-pound Biermann took his second straight kickoff.

Later, Buffalo made a field goal to break the shut out, but they have only 168 yards offense through three quarters. They have only scored 24 points or more in a game three times this season and only once in the last 12 games.

Thus far, it hasn’t always been pretty, but for the most part it’s been a thoroughly dominating performance by the Falcons.

So the Falcons are currently without both their punter (who also is the holder on field goals and extra points) and their place kicker. Good thing they have a sizable lead.

Bryant did, however, kick an extra point after Lawrence Sibury’s fumble return for a touchdown. Chris Redman has been designated to do the punting duties, as Michael Koenen has now been ruled out.