Under Mike Smith, the Falcons were notable chiefly for their adherence to the things that have historically worked well for football teams. They had a compelling passing game buoyed by a strong ground game (at least until Michael Turner aged), they focused on stopping the run on defense, and they placed a lot of value and faith in special teams. They were about the fundamentals, in other words, and the rare glimpses we got of creativity and daring were pretty thrilling.
That was the most successful epoch in team history right up until Dan Quinn and company arrived on the scene, and their tenure thus far has been marked by a focus on innovation.