Pro Sports

The Atlanta Falcons are one of the NFL's pleasant surprises, starting 2-1 after a 2007 season that was ruined from the start by the jailing of Michael Vick and made worse by the harsh regime of Bobby Petrino and his sudden departure for Arkansas with three games left.

The New York Jets are 1-2, not a surprise considering they had a difficult opening schedule. But the way they have played has made it clear that the quick-fix approach that included the trade for Brett Favre, is just that: a quick fix that is likely to damage any long-term rebuilding plan.

Yes, there are many ways to build a good team, as New England has shown by using the draft, trades and a few well-thought-out free-agent signings to dominate most of this decade.

But the method that has built champions, before and after the advent of free agency in 1993, is the one that's always worked: good drafts.

That's why the Falcons are doing it the right way, even if things don't work out perfectly. And the Jets are doing it the wrong way, even if Favre leads them to the playoffs this season. At the end of this year or next year, they will still be spinning their wheels, hoping that Kellen Clemens or Brett Ratliff or some older QB off the scrap heap (Marc Bulger anyone?) will lead them to the Super Bowl.

The Falcons can only aspire to be the Giants or Cowboys in a few years.

But after the Vick/Petrino debacle, they began the right way by hiring Thomas Dimitroff, a little-known personnel man from New England, to take over the football operation. He hired the almost totally unknown Mike Smith from Jacksonville to coach the team.

Then Dimitroff used first-round draft picks, the third overall and the 21st, to draft Matt Ryan and Sam Baker. They were made immediate starters at quarterback and left tackle, two of the most important positions on offense, and two of the most difficult for any rookie to learn. They added another rookie at another key position in middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, a second-round pick.

The Falcons' course also remains unclear. Because Ryan's first pass was a touchdown and two of his first three starts were wins doesn't mean that he won't encounter hard times. In fact, count on it, perhaps as soon as Sunday, when the Falcons go to Carolina.

But they seem to be doing things the right way.

Before this season, few people had heard of their general manager and coach — and the coach's generic name probably guarantees he will remain relatively anonymous unless his team has some success.

But bet on them to be more consistently successful in the next decade than the team that already has a superstar. An aging one who will be gone in a year or two.