Falcons Counting Down to Carolina

FLOWERY BRANCH - "With this football team, nothing's been documented," Lawyer Milloy pointed out Wednesday afternoon. "The reason we're here is because of hard work, dedication and loyalty to each other. Our team is so young, it probably doesn't understand what point in the season we're in. And I think that's a good thing."

The point Milloy and the rest of the Atlanta Falcons have reached is their first "make-or-break" game. Sunday, the 6-4 Falcons host the 8-2 Panthers. A loss probably means the Falcons have no chance at the NFC title and will face an uphill flight to secure a playoff spot.

A win only guarantees that more make-or-break games await.

"It's huge," said Falcons wide receiver Brian Finneran. "It's not only a division game but it's against a team that's 8-2, on a roll and coming off a few wins in a row."

The Falcons - the NFL's biggest surprise of 2008 along with the AFC's 6-4 Dolphins - figured to be a few seasons away from causing a ripple after the franchise cratered in 2007 with the Michael Vick-Bobby Petrino 1-2 nightmare punch. Being overlooked wasn't a bad thing for Atlanta, Milloy believes.

"There were no expectations from Day 1," he said. "I think there are distractions when you have a team on paper that's supposed to do very well because a lot of times, those teams don't. I'd rather be part of a team that works hard and does its business. A team that knocks out one win after another and then at the end they realize, 'Hey, that was easy. Now we have a chance for the big trophy.' " 

To even conceive of playing for something bigger, Atlanta has to clear the mental hurdle of not getting over-amped for Sunday's game.

"It's something we addressed this moring in our team meeting," Falcons rookie head coach Mike Smith told me in his office this afternoon. "This is week 12 of the NFL season. It's our 11th game and one of 16. It's just part of the process for us. It's a divisional game, which carries more importance and heightened excitement, but this has no different bearing than game 1, game 2 or game 5. We always talk about the process and this is another step in the process. We don't want it to become bigger than it really is."

For a veteran of 11 Falcons seasons like linebacker Keith Brookings, it's good to have a big game this late in the season, period.

"It's really nice to be playing for something in November," he said.