ATLANTA -- So much for winning one for the ol' ball coach.
Carolina Panthers 34? Atlanta Falcons 3? With a playoff berth on the line? Good thing the Falcons professed to really care about seventh-year coach Mike Smith's future employment with the club in the days leading up to Sunday's disaster. Just think how bad the score might have been if they'd wanted him gone.
"Mike's done a great job for the seven years I've been here," said quarterback Matt Ryan, whose two interceptions returned for touchdowns were as big a reason as any for the loss. "He's incredibly consistent. You always know where you stand with him as a player, and I think guys respect that."
Added offensive lineman Justin Blaylock, "I hope he's around. He's a good guy, a good coach."
But Blaylock also said this, words far more likely to resonate with owner Arthur Blank than Smith's consistent temperament or popularity.
"Can't think of one time (all season)," he said, "that we played really good football for a stretch of 60 minutes."
They came close on Thursday night, Sept. 18. That's when they clubbed the woeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers 56-14 to move to 2-1 on the season, looking every bit as impressive as that 2012 Falcons team that came within eight yards of reaching the Super Bowl, barely falling at home to San Francisco in the NFC championship game.
But injuries led to a 4-12 record in 2013. More injuries and far more questionable decision-making led to a 6-10 mark this time around, that record low-lighted by five straight losses following that bashing of the Bucs.
Now Smith is no longer the coach who led Atlanta to playoffs in four of his first five seasons so much as he's the coach who's gone 10-22 since.
Not that he ducked that analysis Sunday evening.
"This is a 6-10 football team, and there's one person that the record's attributed to, and that's the head football coach," he said.
When asked what he told the Falcons after the loss, Smith replied, "This is not how you want to finish. I appreciate their hard work all this season, but this is not the way that you want to finish. Hopefully, the guys who are going to be here in the future will remember it."
If that sounds like Smith doesn't expect to be one of those guys, no one could possibly blame him. Before this game even began, ESPN reported that the Falcons have hired the search firm of Korn Ferry to identify head coaching candidates should Blank decide to make a change.
When asked about the story, Smith attempted to dismiss it, going so far as to say, "I'm not going to comment on some report that probably has no validity to it."
But he also said, "There's distractions every day you go to work."
Beyond that, if it had no validity, why didn't Blank -- who was sitting no more than four feet from Smith when the question was asked -- quickly refute it? Instead, he said nothing, though he did shake his coach's hand as Smith's interview session concluded.
Furthermore, anyone with half a brain could easily ascertain that such news would never leak on the morning of a game that could put the Falcons in the playoffs unless Blank's decision was already made.
Of course, anyone wishing to keep Smith for one more year could point to the Dallas Cowboys. Promoted to interim head coach midway through the 2010 season, Jason Garrett failed to guide the Cowpokes to the playoffs in any of his first three seasons. Owner Jerry Jones stuck by him. Dallas may be the team to beat in this year's postseason, having just won all eight of its road games after Sunday's 37-17 trouncing of Washington. Sometimes patience really is a virtue.
But Garrett's records never got worse. They just stayed 8-8 until this season. Smith followed up four playoff trips in five years with two straight losing records. If there's a trend, it's downward.
Not that Smith deserves be the only one axed, should that occur. General manager Thomas Dimitroff arguably mortgaged the Falcons' future in trading five draft picks to land Julio Jones in the 2011 draft. It almost got them to the Super Bowl, but it may have erased much-needed depth the past two seasons. There's also no reliable tight end following the retirement of future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez.
Gonzalez replacement Levine Toilolo has been as close to a total bust as is humanly possible -- 31 catches for 238 yards and two touchdowns -- and the running game is almost as bad.
Then there's the defense, which ranks dead-last among 32 NFL teams despite Smith arriving in Atlanta from the defensive side of the ball.
"There are a lot of things I could have done differently and better," Smith said. "They're all learning experiences, and I will take those and in the future make sure that I don't make the same mistakes that I made this season."
Three hours before the start of the game, Smith, still wearing a business suit, stood alone for a minute or two at midfield, surveying a near-empty Georgia Dome, as if he might never get that chance again as the Falcons head coach.
The search firm report had already hit cyberspace. Anyone looking for a sign that Smith already suspected his fate could validate it with that scene. He may never admit to it, but Smith seemed to sense at that moment that his time with the Falcons was over.
And if he didn't, his team left little doubt against Carolina that it should be.
"Obviously," said Ryan, "you come into this game knowing what the consequences are, positive and negative.".
Now the Falcons Nation must hope a negative for Smith, and quite possibly others, can become a positive for the guys left behind to shape the franchise's future.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.