(My Sportsbook) - The clock struck midnight on the Atlanta Falcons' Cinderella season with this past Saturday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card round of the NFC Playoffs. The 30-24 setback not only offered a glimpse of the team's rosy future, but also revealed a few holes that need to be filled in order for the up-and-coming club to continue its progression.

In essence, Saturday's defeat exposed the Falcons as a hard-working group of overachievers that did an excellent job of playing to their strengths in 2008, but were still too flawed to be deemed a serious championship contender.

Atlanta displayed plenty of resolve by roaring back from an early 11-point deficit with two second-quarter touchdowns that produced a 17-10 halftime lead, and further showed it wouldn't quit with a late scoring drive that accounted for the final margin. In between, however, the Falcons committed two turnovers, allowed a safety, and failed to muster a first down over a span of six drives to begin the second half.

The most costly of that series of errors came on the second play of the third quarter, when Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett slammed into Michael Turner as the Atlanta running back was receiving a handoff from quarterback Matt Ryan. The ball was snatched in mid-air by Arizona safety Antrel Rolle and returned 27 yards for a tide-turning touchdown.

That ugly ending still doesn't diminish all that Atlanta managed to accomplish in a season that may have defied even the organization's optimistic expectations. The new-look Falcons earned their first postseason appearance in four years by posting a terrific 11-5 regular-season record, a seven-game improvement from the four-win nightmare of the 2007 campaign.

New general manager Thomas Dimitroff hit a home run on every major decision during the rebuilding process, from tabbing the no-nonsense Mike Smith as head coach to making Turner the team's primary target in free agency and landing a stellar rookie crop headlined by rising star Ryan through the draft.

Dimitroff is going to have to hit it big once again this offseason to ensure Atlanta's banner year was no fluke. Of primary concern is adding more playmakers to a defense that ended the regular season 25th in rushing yards allowed (127.5 ypg) and 24th in total yards surrendered (347.9 ypg) and was burned for two long passing touchdowns in Saturday's loss to the Cardinals.

Three of the unit's starters -- safety Lawyer Milloy, outside linebacker Keith Brooking and tackle Grady Jackson -- will be 34 or older during the course of next season, and both Milloy and Jackson are set to be unrestricted free agents.

"We'll go into this offseason with some issues we've got to address," said Smith after Saturday's loss. "This (loss) is all part of the process. It's just another step in the process. We're going to remember how we feel as a football team, because we plan on being back in this situation and we want to remember how this feels."

A WRONG TURN

A contributing factor to Saturday's loss was the Falcons' inability to establish a consistent running game, one of the key elements to the team's rousing success during the regular season. Turner was limited to just 42 yards on 18 carries, which matched the Pro Bowl back's lowest yardage output of the year.

It seemed like (the Cardinals) had guys everywhere," said Turner afterward. "They crowded the line of scrimmage. They had a good game plan. They looked like they knew what play we were about to run."

Atlanta went 8-0 when Turner, who finished second in the NFL with 1,699 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground during the regular-season, ran for 100 yards or more in a game. When he was held under that number, the Falcons won just three times in nine tries.

Turner wasn't the only Falcon on offense to have a trying day. Ryan had his first pass of the game intercepted and threw another pick in the second half, while also being sacked in the end zone for a safety in the fourth quarter after holding onto the ball a tad too long.

The newly-crowned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year did have plenty of positives in his first postseason start, however, as Ryan was nearly flawless in engineering a pair of touchdown drives that staked Atlanta to a short-lived 17-14 advantage at halftime.

SMITH NAMED TOP COACH

The Falcons garnered a second major award a day after the Arizona loss, when the Associated Press named Smith as the NFL's Coach of the Year for the 2008 season.

The 49-year-old edged out another first-year sideline boss, Miami's Tony Sparano, for the honor, with Smith receiving 23 1/2 votes from a nationwide panel of writers and broadcasters and Sparano getting 22 1/2. Both coaches guided their respective teams to 11-5 records during the regular season and an appearance in this year's playoffs.

Smith's 11 wins in his debut season are tied for the most of any rookie head coach that took over a team with a losing record since 1978. Sparano and Baltimore's John Harbaugh, who led the Ravens to an 11-5 mark and an AFC Wild Card berth this year, also achieved that feat.

The former Jacksonville defensive coordinator became the second to obtain Coach of the Year honors in Falcons history. Dan Reeves won the award in 1998 after directing Atlanta to a 14-2 record and the franchise's only Super Bowl appearance that year.

QUICK HITS

- Smith and Ryan became the first rookie head coach and quarterback to participate in a playoff game since the 1945 Cleveland Rams. Baltimore matched that accomplishment on Sunday, when Harbaugh and Joe Flacco helped the Ravens to a 27-9 victory at Miami in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs.

-Ryan threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns on 26-of-40 passing against the Cardinals and set an NFL rookie record for completions in a postseason game.

-Wide receiver Roddy White established a Falcons playoff mark with 11 receptions in Saturday's loss. The Pro Bowl honoree finished with 84 yards and a touchdown.

-Atlanta, which averaged 152.7 rushing yards per game during the regular season, was held to a year-low 60 yards on the ground by Arizona.

-Starting defensive end Jamaal Anderson sat out Saturday's test with a high ankle sprain, with Chauncey Davis taking his place.

OFFSEASON OUTLOOK

The Falcons will certainly have a far less volatile offseason than the previous year, when the team had to find a new coach and general manager and underwent an extensive overhaul of the roster. There are still quite a few important decisions that need to be made over the coming months, however.

A determination of the futures of both Milloy and Brooking, both esteemed locker-room leaders whose on-field skills are in decline, will be at the forefront of those discussions. Milloy will be an unrestricted free agent in March, while Brooking is due to make $5.5 million in the final year of his contract. With potential replacements in youngsters Thomas DeCoud and Stephen Nicholas already on the roster, there seems to be a good chance that at least one of the veterans won't be around next season.

Other impending free agents of note include Jackson, cornerback Domonique Foxworth, punter Michael Koenen and outside linebacker Michael Boley, who fell out of favor with the new coaching staff and isn't likely to be re-signed. If the club doesn't bring back the 36-year-old Jackson, defensive tackle could be one of the primary target areas for Atlanta in free agency or the draft.

The Falcons have fewer concerns on offense, although White will be entering the final year of his contract in 2009 and will surely command a wealth of interest if allowed to hit the open market. The team did lock up fellow wide receiver Michael Jenkins with a four-year extension in November.