By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP)
-- The Atlanta Falcons don't have to answer that same ol'
question: Hey, when are you guys going to actually have two winning
seasons in a row?
Yet it might be the way they look at getting a 44-year-long
monkey off their backs that provides the best insight into why this
long-suffering franchise may have finally turned the corner.
Coach Mike Smith isn't happy about going 9-7. Neither are his
players. They came up short of their goal for 2009, which was
getting back to the playoffs and going even deeper than they did
the year before.
The Falcons will resume that quest Sunday, when they open a
season of high expectations against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)