Atlanta Falcons: Mike Smith Gains Confidence from Finally Beating the Eagles

When the Falcons beat the Eagles 35-31 Sunday night, Mike Smith got a monkey off his back. Until this win, Smith was winless against the Eagles in his career as the Falcons head coach. His overall record against the Eagles now stands at 1-3. Despite being under .500 in his career against Philadelphia, Week 2's win was huge for Smith's confidence.

Since the arrival of Mike Smith as the Falcons head coach, expectations in Atlanta have been on the rise. This season, the expectations are particularly high. Just look at what SI's Peter King predicted. He placed all of his cards on the Falcons to win it all this season. King has the Falcons defeating the Chargers 24-20 in the Super Bowl. The expectations from the sports analyst community are high and they are even higher from the fans.

Falcon's fans are expecting, almost demanding, a deep run into the playoffs this year. This has to do with Smith being winless in the postseason with Atlanta. That's a stat you don't want anywhere near your name. With all the hype around Atlanta this season, Smith needs to be more confident than ever with himself. Beating the Eagles, a team considered to be one of the top NFC contenders, in comeback fashion during prime time is exactly the confidence boost Smith needed.

Smith has always expressed confidence and solidity with himself and the Falcons, but no one can deny this win was huge. Michael Vick was coming back to Atlanta for the first time as a starter for the Eagles, the team Smith couldn't seem to beat. Despite Vick being injured and missing a portion of the game, seeing the Falcons go down by 10 points and manage to piece together a comeback win to avoid a 0-2 start on the season is exactly what the doctor ordered for Mike Smith.

Had Atlanta lost, the obvious concerns would be that they were winless on the year and Smith was still searching for his first career victory against the Eagles. However, the bigger concern would be how the team and coach would react long term.

If Atlanta hopes to break out this season in the playoffs, they need a head coach that can game plan confidently and understand how to beat teams like the Eagles. Atlanta's win over the Eagles will give Smith the confidence he needs to prepare his team for the playoffs.