ATLANTA -- It was hours after the Atlanta Falcons hung on to win another game Sunday afternoon -- the first one for the franchise inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium this season -- when on the field, so much about the Falcons had been erased.

The crew was turning over the building for this week’s Peach Bowl -- meaning all of the Falcons on-field logos had to be gone. And for much of the past few years, this time of year would be the erasure of all hope for the franchise too. For the postseason. For perhaps seasons to come.

But not in 2021, as it heads into the final week of the year. Instead, improbably, Atlanta remains alive for the postseason -- and how the Falcons have been doing it could be beneficial for more than just one year.

The Falcons seem to be finding some sort of identity -- not necessarily for this season, although it has been rooted in what has happened throughout coach Arthur Smith’s first year in Atlanta -- but for the long-term vision of what Smith hopes the franchise can become.

Atlanta (7-8) is 7-2 in one-possession games this season. Every game the Falcons have won, including Sunday's 20-16 win over Detroit, has been a one-score game at the end. The losses, more often than not, have been convincing. Six of Atlanta’s eight losses have come by double digits.

But more often than not, when the Falcons have been in a game, they’ve managed to win.

“That’s kind of been our ethos,” Smith said. “Find a way to win. … That’s what we’re trying to create -- a culture of winning as a team, playing smart, situational football.”

And for all of what Atlanta has done this season during its Gravitron of a season, that has been one of the constants. And it’s something that could be more important than any singular win or loss for the Falcons throughout 2021.

For weeks, months, Smith has preached physicality and wanting his team to play that way on the offensive and defensive lines and in other positions as well. And that’s part of this, because without having that physicality, the Falcons couldn't do what they’ve done this season: win close games.

Being able to have the resolve and wherewithal to handle tight games -- to know you can win those games -- can carry over to 2022 and beyond. Yes, the Falcons will have many new faces next season (Smith has said as much), but that general concept can remain with some of the core players Atlanta appears to be planning on building around. Players such as tight end Kyle Pitts and cornerback A.J. Terrell and right guard Chris Lindstrom.

“There’s a standard of which things need to be and situational football is something that we practice every single day, and we try to be great at and try to win,” Lindstrom said. “And it’s not always perfect, but I think there’s a confidence in each other and a belief in this team that any time we go out there and we can win, the expectation is that we’re gonna win and nothing else is good enough.”

Being able to win tight games on the road -- and at home -- often makes the difference between the postseason and not. Between a successful tenure for a head coach and not.

Not every win Atlanta has had this season has been one you’d put on a poster or want to watch over and over again. Three have come down to kicker Younghoe Koo as time expired. Sunday came down to an interception by Foyesade Oluokun on the second-to-last play of the game as Detroit was driving, following a Russell Gage fumble.

But Atlanta, with the exception of the game against the Washington Football Team, has found ways to win late -- even if it means rebounding from giving up a lead. And it has made a difference. Both this season, when despite a minus-18 touchdown differential and a minus-122 point differential, the Falcons are still in playoff contention, and for the future, when Smith is hoping what happens in 2021 can be built on for 2022 and beyond.

“It’s crazy. Last year, we were not 7-2 in these type of games,” Oluokun said. “This year, we’ve definitely put an emphasis on situational football and how to handle situations.”

It has mattered, both in the short term and, the Falcons hope, the long term as well.