FALCONS 13, BUCCANEERS 10 (OT): Fiery side of Smith warms club to coach

The Falcons’ steady path toward the playoffs continued on Sunday at the Georgia Dome after a moment for the ages in the fourth quarter. That’s when their head coach lost his usually calm look in public to display the inferno in his belly.

As a result, Tampa Bay’s Antonio Bryant got burned by a lot of Mike Smith, and it led to the Falcons climbing over the ashes of the Buccaneers along the way to a 13-10 victory in overtime.

“So Coach Smith got in the face of an opposing player on the sideline?” said Falcons running back Michael Turner, laughing with wide eyes. “No, I didn’t see it,” Turner said, laughing some more. “I wish I did, because I know that would have been a sight to see.”

It was. Just after Domonique Foxworth knocked down a pass to Bryant on third-and-6 near the Falcons sideline in that fourth quarter, the cornerback and the wide receiver shoved each other within centimeters of the head coach.

Then came the inferno, with Smith rushing to meet Bryant nearly nose-to-nose, and with the fire from Smith’s tongue telling Bryant a whole bunch of things that aren’t printable for a family newspaper.

Well, I’m guessing. “Antonio was on our sideline, and I just politely asked him to go back over to his sideline,” said Smith, trying to keep his still smoldering tongue from burning the inside of his cheek.

As for Bryant’s side of the story, he wasn’t saying —- at least not all of it.

“Just as long as the man didn’t put his hands on me, I don’t care,” Bryant said, shaking his head. “I don’t recall what [Smith] said. It’s nothing personal. That’s over with, and if he wants to get in my face, that’s great support of a coach looking out for his players. I don’t think he took it as anything more than being a Falcon, just like I’m always going to be a Buc. And I’m not mad at him for that.”

Neither are Smith’s players, which inspired the following: They forgot about the shaky day of the usually solid Matt Ryan (57.5 passer rating, two interceptions). They forgot about the brutal afternoon of cornerback Chris Houston in man coverage. They forgot about Jason Rader fumbling away a touchdown in the end zone to the Buccaneers. They forgot about the blocked punt that led to the Buccaneers’ game-tying field goal near the end of regulation that forced overtime.

They remembered Smith’s passion, though, and they found ways to overcome themselves. “Yeah, because that guy’s crazy,” Foxworth said, chuckling, forcing a visitor to ask: Which guy —- Smith or Bryant? “I’m talking about Coach Smith, because he gets so fired up sometimes during games. That’s the kind of competitive attitude that he has, and it bleeds over into the rest of the team.”

The result? The Falcons are shocking reality after last year’s horrors involving Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino. They are 9-5, and they are threatening to keep playing in January with a relatively inexperienced roster and a coach who is much tougher than you think.

This isn’t Jerry Glanville stuff. Back then, the only thing staler than the eternal black attire of that former Falcons coach was his attempt at intimidation. This isn’t the likes of rah-rah Jim Mora, who preferred to operate as the players’ pal, often to his detriment. This isn’t another Bobby Petrino, a college guy, whose idea of motivation was to ignore players by displaying even more of a bland expression to them —- when they could find him.

This is Smith as Smith, and this is awesome.

tlmoore@ajc.com