The Falcons have scars and they’re a better team because of it

ATLANTA –- The critical numbers aligned as 31, 32, and 33 — but there was nothing 1-2-3 about it.

There were 31 seconds left. The Green Bay Packers had 32 points. The Atlanta Falcons had one more point than that. And Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had the ball.

This, for the Falcons, looked like ice cream sliding off a cone about to make a nasty, messy splat.

Surely, the Falcons would gulp. Hey, this is what they have become, a bunch that started last season 6-1 and then dropped six straight and plunged into oblivion. A hair-pulling team that started this season losing at home to Tampa Bay, won four straight, then lost two straight, the last one right here in the Georgia Dome (33-30 in overtime to San Diego) in a game the Falcons led by 17 points.

Rodgers with the ball. At his own 25-yard line. Only a drive for a field goal required for victory.

You think the Georgia Dome crowd wasn’t petrified? Or that the noticeable chunk of Packers fans in the place weren’t downright giddy about their quarterback’s chances against the drop-it-like-you’re-mentally-frail Falcons?

Heck, 31 seconds was more than the 27 seconds just before halftime when Rodgers -– again smack at his own 25-yard line -– drove the Packers 64 yards in four plays. That produced a Mason Crosby 29-yard field goal as time expired and a 24-19 Packers’ halftime lead.

Those final 31 seconds looked frightening for the Falcons.

Many of their fans, much of the city, expected a complete splat.

I wonder how many of the Falcons players and coaches did, too?

“It’s a matter of poise, it’s a matter of being in many of these situations and figuring out how to handle them,” Falcons premiere receiver Julio Jones said. “You can’t teach this stuff. You have to go through it. You have to stay at it to figure it out. I think we just did.”

A 33-32 Falcons victory. A late Falcons winning score. A late Falcons winning stop.

Somehow, ice cream saved and savored on cone.

Who are these guys?

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a better perspective than Falcons coach Dan Quinn’s.

“I think those scars make a difference as you go through those experiences, they’re tough on you. You have to learn from them and we have. Knowing that when we get in this scenario again, and it’s time to go shut the door, whether it’s offensively or defensively, and we had the opportunity to do that. We’ve certainly talked about it a bunch and had the uncomfortable conversations, knowing the league we play in, most of these games are going to come down to this kind of finish. We relished that chance to be finishers.”

That’s a mouthful from Quinn. Especially the word “finishers.” That’s been a prickly Falcons issue.

So, when you realize that, when you taste a reversal, when it surfaces in such a lofty game like this one, the owner (Arthur Blank) strolls into the coach’s press conference and the GM (Thomas Dimitroff) does, too, and so do so many other Falcons management, friends, and family, all excited, all smiles. It is unusual for such a crew to actually attend the coach’s postgame news conference, but it has been done this way for awhile here under Blank, an inclusive model. They all exhaled.

It was impressive, Atlanta’s willingness to meet Green Bay in an old-school, high-caliber quarterback duel with new-school offensive schematics. Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers were on fire, throwing darts and daggers and directing spectacular offensive drives all afternoon. Rodgers threw it 38 times, Ryan 35 and neither threw an interception. Rodgers threw four touchdown passes. Ryan threw three.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy called it “a hot, high-point game.”

“For me,” said Ryan, “the longer I’ve played, the more I understand that you never know how a game is going to shake out. Getting up or down or out of your normal concentration doesn’t help, so I try to remain that way all the time … The message I give to the guys before we go out is in that situation, don’t worry about the touchdown play, let’s get the first down and get the sticks moving. I thought we did a great job of that.”

I loved Atlanta’s attack mode. It scored in each quarter. The Atlanta defense only allowed eight points in the second half (none in the third quarter). The Falcons defense created a chameleon-like approach in the second half and developed a pass rush that finally cooled Rodgers.

The fourth quarter showed everything the Falcons hope to become.

Green Bay drove for a 32-26 lead with 3:58 left.

Ryan immediately responded with a 75-yard drive and a dart-like, scorched 11-yard touchdown pass to twisting receiver Mohamed Sanu, who made a tough catch look simple to put the Falcons up 33-32.

But 31 seconds were left. Rodgers looked ready to pounce.

“We fully expected to win,” McCarthy said. “We put ourselves into position to win.”

But the Falcons defense stopped Rodgers, snuffing Green Bay on four straight plays. Heck, Atlanta even got the ball back with 14 seconds left for a victory kneel.

Think about a Falcons offensive day where Jones makes only three catches for 29 yards and running back Devonta Freeman rushes only 11 times for 35 yards, yet the Falcons score 33 points and win. That is amazing versatility and depth. And consider that Atlanta sacked Rodgers three times, twice by defensive end Adrian Clayborn.

So, Falcons fans, your team is not in the middle of another six-game losing binge. Had the Falcons lost, they would have been halfway to that.

By winning, they are 5-3 and play on Thursday night at Tampa Bay. Atlanta is in first place in the NFC South, the lone team in the division with a winning record. Green Bay fell to 4-3 and plays at home against Indianapolis next.

It is clear that Falcons management, Falcons coaches, Falcons players -– just like their fans –- remember what happened during the ugly slide last season. Quinn tried assuring them all this was new. This was different.

But, like Jones said, you can’t teach this stuff. You have to go through it. You have to stay at it to figure it out.

I think the Falcons just did.