The Secret to the Atlanta Falcons' Success This Season

On the heels of a season where their star player goes to jail (Michael Vick) and their head coach abruptly leaves the team with a game to go (Bobby Petrino), it seemed as if the Falcons had a lot of rebuilding to do.

It seemed as if they were going to be back in five or six years. But they shocked us all when they came out and started winning with a rookie head coach and rookie QB.

But what is the biggest change in the Falcons?

It is the defense. See, this defense had always been ok but never that great. The reason they lost as many games as they did was because of their defense being terrible, especially in the fourth quarter, when it mattered most.

But now they have a good defense and really it is because of their head coach, Mike Smith. Smith had been a defensive coach with other teams and had good defenses wherever he went.

The Falcons needed a lot of help. Last year, it seemed they gave up when they got behind. The offense was pretty bad last year, too. When Vick left, they had no QB. They let other good QBs leave and didn't have a good backup.

That was the reason they did so badly. Then, in the NFL Draft, they drafted Boston College's Matt Ryan, and boom...they started winning. The soon-to-be offensive Rookie of the Year surprised everyone, including the Falcons' fans.

The fans who used to wear Vick jerseys and now wearing Ryan jerseys. So the biggest difference might be the defense, but it was helped by a good QB in Matt Ryan.

So what is the secret to the Falcons' success? That would be the head coach, Mike Smith. I told you what he did for the defense, but he helped the offense just as much. Probably the head coach of the year took those doubters out.

No one really heard of Smith, especially as a possible candidate for the Falcons' job. Many speculated why the Falcons organization hired him. Now there is no speculation by anyone.

Smith proved he could win, and the Falcons, with a win this week and a Carolina loss, will be a two seed in the playoffs.  With so much doubt surrounding him, Smith, the first-year head coach, has risen above to engineer one of the league's greatest turnarounds.

He did one thing that coaches in the past didn't do: He made the players believe they could win, even when they were down. A coach that does that is high in my book.

When you have a coach who believes in you as a player, you play harder for him, if not for yourself. Guys like Tony Dungy of the Colts do the same thing, and look at them.

Smith is the secret to the Falcons, and everyone can see it. But what do you think is the reason for the Falcons turn around?