Panthers game may be key to Falcons’ season

Flowery Branch — Most of the Falcons see the elephant sitting in their locker room.

But only a few will acknowledge the elephant before playing what is essentially a division-title elimination game against the Carolina Panthers at 4:15 p.m. Sunday at the Georgia Dome.

The young and surprising Falcons (6-4 overall, 1-2 in the NFC South) are facing their biggest test of coach Mike Smith’s regime.

A loss would drop the Falcons three games behind Carolina (8-2, 2-1) with five to play and give the Panthers a 2-0 season sweep of the Falcons, and an unlikely scenario would have to unfold for the Falcons to claim the division title.

“I think our team is so young that they don’t really understand what point of the season they are in,” Falcons safety Lawyer Milloy said. “I think that’s a good thing.”

Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan, stopped just short of a “must-win” characterization.

“It’s an important division game,” Ryan said. “We have go out there and do everything we can to get a win this week.”

While Smith and Ryan wouldn’t characterize Sunday’s game as a “must-win” situation several other players have, including running back Michael Turner, who has been deep into the playoffs with the San Diego Chargers and knows what time of the year it is.

“Yes, I look at it like that. … It’s a must-win game if you want to win the division,” Turner said. “You can’t let them get too far ahead if you want to win this thing.”

Playoff teams make their move in November. The Falcons are 2-1 in November with two games to play. The Falcons have not had any important November games in a few seasons.

“It’s nice to actually be playing for something in November against a very good football team,” linebacker Keith Brooking said. “This is a big test for us.”

How this young team — with a rookie quarterback and seven starters with less than three years experience — plays in its first big late-season test, especially coming off a disappointing loss to Denver, will be important. This season the Falcons are 3-0 in games after losses.

“I really love the way our team has responded to the losses that we’ve had,” Brooking said. “We’ve bounced back and played extremely well the following week.”

The Falcons know they were not expected to reach 6-4 this season or to be uttering the “P-word” — as in playoffs — at any stage in the season.

“A lot of people didn’t expect us to even have a chance up until this point,” Milloy said. “Going toward the end of the season, every game has more and more importance.

“If we want to remain in the hunt and remain giving ourselves a chance, this is a very important game.”

Being one of the veterans on the young team has re-energized Milloy, who’s in his 13th season in the league.

“It’s fun this year,” Milloy said. “It’s the way you want it to be. I have a lot of pride in not only my team, but this division.”

Milloy has been on teams that have started strong, only to fizzle down the stretch. In 2006, his first season with the Falcons, they were 5-2 before finishing 7-9. The season before Milloy arrived, the Falcons started 6-2 and finished 8-8.

Milloy thinks the current group of Falcons are different. The low expectations might have brought them together quicker.

“That’s the way you want to do it instead of going in with all of the expectations,” Milloy said. “Having cameras in your face from day one. I’d rather have it this way, where you just grind it out and then at the end have a chance to go on and play for the big trophy.”