Breaking Down the Atlanta Falcons' Blueprint for Winning the Super Bowl

Five years ago Sunday, former head coach Bobby Petrino led the Michael Vick-less Atlanta Falcons to the first of 12 losses en route to a last-place finish in the NFC South.

This Sunday, however, now-head coach Mike Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan could lead the Falcons to the first of many wins en route to this season’s Super Bowl.  

Few are predicting the same, but it’s not that crazy of an idea.

On offense, Ryan and his wealth of weapons are ready to explode under Dirk Koetter’s up-tempo, three-wide passing attack.

On the other side of the ball, Mike Nolan has the players playing to their strengths instead of imposing an unsuitable system upon them, as was the case in years past.

Add to that the motivation of losing their past three playoff games, and the Falcons may be poised to not only reach this year's postseason, but win there too.  

The blueprint is as follows.

Unleash the Offense

Under former coordinator Mike Mularkey, the Falcons' dependence on the running game was both a blessing and a curse, amounting to dominance when it was successful and utter failure when it struggled.

The hope is that new coordinator Dirk Koetter can change that.

With an arsenal that includes Julio Jones and Roddy White on the outside, future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez on the inside and the emerging Jacquizz Rodgers out of the backfield, it's time Matt Ryan takes over control of this offense and becomes its true centerpiece. 

Michael Turner assumed that role the past four seasons, but there's not much time before the 30-year-old running back is burned out.

Ryan, meanwhile, has shown he can not only handle a pass-first attack, but thrive in it. Look no further than this year's preseason, in which he completed 45 of 60 attempts for 549 yards and three touchdowns for a quarterback rating of 112.4.

Atlanta has long struggled to keep up with the league's elite teams. But if Mike Smith welcomes his team's new identity and finally takes the shackles off Ryan and the offense this year, it's the Falcons who themselves could become the team to beat.

Keep Matt Ryan Healthy

Matt Ryan's protection was shaky at best in a 2011 campaign that saw him sacked a career-high 26 times. While good for seventh-best in the league, that number doesn't take into account all the times he had to throw the ball away to avoid taking a hit.

Not helping the matter was an unstable line, which saw right guard Garrett Reynolds benched in favor of Joe Hawley midway through the season and left tackle Sam Baker give way to Will Svitek late in the year. Neither proved to be much better.

Showing it isn't letting the problem go unnoticed, Atlanta drafted guard Peter Konz and tackle Lamar Holmes this year. However, Smith is giving last year's starting five another chance in 2012, as he takes an unchanged depth chart into Kansas City in Week 1.  

The group was generally effective in preseason, allowing Ryan to be sacked just twice and forced out of the pocket a handful of times in three games.

But it remains to be seen if it can keep from repeating 2011's late-season meltdown, which culminated in a 24-2 loss that saw the New York Giants pressure Ryan all game long.

With the hiring of Pat Hill as offensive line coach, the Falcons are betting coaching, not talent, to be the reason for last year's struggles. Considering the importance of Ryan, they better be right, for an injury to their star quarterback would bring hopes of a Super Bowl down with him.

Win on the Road

Since 2008, Mike Smith has won a remarkable 26 of 33 regular season and playoff games played in the Georgia Dome.

On the road, however, the Falcons are just 17-17, including two postseason losses against the Arizona Cardinals in 2008 and the New York Giants last January.

Under Smith, the Falcons have consistently struggled away from the Dome, and it was no different for them last year. In nine road games, Atlanta came away with four victories, and that easily could've been just two. A missed field goal by the Seahawks gave the Falcons a 30-28 win in Seattle, while they had to overcome a 16-point deficit to beat the Panthers in Carolina.

If that wasn't enough, Atlanta's five away losses last season consisted of three blowouts (Bears, Saints, Giants) and humbling defeats at the hands of teams they should've dominated (Buccaneers, Texans).

The Falcons can ill afford to suffer the same results in 2012 in the regular season as equally as the postseason, where, barring home-field advantage, Atlanta's road to the Super Bowl may entirely take place away from the Dome.

Stop the Pass

Passing defense was the Falcons' Achilles' heel under former coordinator Brian VanGorder.

The reason was two-part: not enough pressure on the quarterback from the front four and poor coverage by the players in the secondary.

But all that is figuring to be a thing of the past with Mike Nolan now in town.

As mentioned in the opening slide, Nolan's aggressive system has his players playing to their strengths.

The result is a new-look defense in Atlanta: Aside from the addition of Asante Samuel, Dunta Robinson is back to playing physically in the slot, safeties William Moore and Thomas DeCoud are free to roam all over the field and pass-rusher John Abraham is back to actually rushing the passer.

But a good defense on paper doesn't necessarily mean an improved one on the field, which the Falcons will desperately need, as they are set to face some of the league's best quarterbacks all year long, including Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, Michael Vick, Tony Romo, Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Matthew Stafford.

Quite the tall task for 2011's 20th-ranked pass defense.

Beat the New Orleans Saints

The Saints have had the Falcons' number since Sean Payton made his way to New Orleans, sweeping their division foe in each of the 2006 and 2007 seasons and winning six of the past eight games, the last of which was a 45-16 thrashing of the Falcons on national television.

The four prior games before that were decided by three points.

The season-long suspension of Payton may give the Falcons the edge this season, but not by much as Drew Brees and his high-powered offense are still intact and dangerous as ever.

To make matters worse for Atlanta, the Saints' new "us against the world" mentality along with their goal of becoming the first team to host a Super Bowl and win it in the same year will only add fuel to New Orleans' fire.

With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rebuilding and many questions surrounding the Carolina Panthers' defense, the Saints are the biggest obstacle standing in the way between the Falcons and the NFC South title and, by consequence, the playoffs.  

And with both division games scheduled for the second half of the year, the Falcons will need to ensure they're at their very best when facing the them to ensure a spot in the postseason.