ATLANTA -- It was a catch-phrase of the 1970s, yet when the Atlanta Falcons moved into the glitzy new Georgia Dome in '92 and let loose all of their lightning-quick run-and-shoot wide receivers on a fast AstroTurf surface, the team certainly did so with a "speed kills" philosophy in mind.

Being fast definitely meant big figures but, unfortunately, all those gaudy statistics that the Falcons posted during the seasons in which they operated from the four-wide receiver formation didn't translate into victories. The run-and-shoot actually ran very little and, more often than not, the offense shot itself in the foot.

	Keith Brooking had 3½ sacks and two interceptions last season.

And suddenly the Georgia Dome's ersatz carpet was forgotten as the club usually had the rug pulled out from under it.

The Falcons might as well have been playing on shag, or more appropriately in quicksand, so pedestrian were the results. Outside of the magical season of '98, when the Falcons advanced to Super Bowl XXXIII in what hindsight now views as one of the greatest aberrations in league history, the Georgia Dome and its surface could have been old Fulton County Stadium and the muddy quagmires it often produced.

But a decade after the move to the dome, and after years of playing power football, the old "speed kills" philosophy is making a return engagement in a 2002 Falcons team dramatically quicker than its most recent successors. And while coach Dan Reeves remains a smashmouth proponent, and quarterback Michael Vick will operate out of formations far more conventional than was the run-and-shoot, Atlanta will use its newfound team speed to try to create more big plays this season.

"It's the fastest team we've had, probably on both sides of the ball, since I have been here," said fullback Bob Christian, who joined the Falcons in 1997. "There are playmakers now. When you've got speed, you force the other (team) into mistakes, and we've got some speed. I think people who have played us the past few years will be surprised at how much faster we are as a team."

It remains to be seen if the Falcons are the quickest team in the NFC South. But an advance scout for one of the other franchises in the division allowed that there probably is no club in the realigned quartet with markedly better speed than Atlanta now possesses.

Credit an emphasis on expeditiousness to Ron Hill, vice president of football operations, and a talented scout who has been stressing the need for speed almost from the moment he arrived. As for the newfound confidence that is manifested by some of the veterans, who have grown accustomed to losing and to sparse fan support, chalk up that turnaround to owner Arthur Blank. Since purchasing the franchise in February, he has demonstrated an ability to call attention to virtually every move the club has made, and has heightened the interest again in a flagging product.

In a reversal of past years, there is at least a sense among the populace that the NFL season is about to begin, and Blank has restored a healthy pulse to a franchise seemingly on life support. By reducing season ticket prices in the upper reaches of the Georgia Dome, seats that went unsold anyway, there is at least the potential for transforming one of the league's premier facilities into a friendly confine for the home team.

"It was nice to feel like we were playing a home game for a change," said 10-year veteran offensive tackle Bob Whitfield after last Friday's preseason opener. "The atmosphere was so much different, you have to be affected by it, you know?"

By turning the team over to Vick, importing mercurial tailback Warrick Dunn, and installing a new 3-4 defense predicated on chasing the football, the new management group seems to have provided a formula that fans will find far more entertaining. Even if the Falcons fail to reach the playoffs in the first year of Blank's hands-on stewardship -- and there are pundits who regard Atlanta as a quiet but viable postseason contender -- they can't help but be a far more exciting team.

And Vick figures to provide his share of thrills with a daring style that will produce both big plays and busts.

Not many teams possess a quarterback whose 40-yard time is superior to that of most running backs and wide receivers in the league, and defenses got a dose of Vick's explosiveness in his two starts as a rookie. Explosive, though, is a word with diverse connotations, and the second-year veteran is aware he needs to reduce turnovers and mental errors. Removing some of the excess verbiage that has traditionally been a shortcoming of the Reeves offense should help with that.

"In terms of still having everything (at our disposal), the playbook really has not changed," Vick said. "In terms of getting into and out of the huddle, of being easier to call things and to check down, it's different. But it's a good kind of different. It's really given me a level (of comfort) that I never felt in my first season."

Management gambled in the spring by releasing veteran Chris Chandler, a far better quarterback than fans here ever gave him credit for being, but it was a move that had to be made. There had to be a tangible and meaningful sign of turnover and, since Blank opted to retain Reeves despite six losing seasons in his last seven campaigns, Vick was the perfect catalyst to signal the change. And really, why wait to play your quarterback of the future, if you can accelerate his learning curve right now?

	“	It's the fastest team we've had, probably on both sides of the ball, since I have been here. There are playmakers now. When you've got speed, you force the other (team) into mistakes, and we've got some speed. I think people who have played us the past few years will be surprised at how much faster we are as a team. ”
		— Bob Christian, Falcons fullbck

The first player selected overall in the 2001 draft, Vick may always have the Falcons teetering on the precipice this year because of his unpredictability, but he will also have fans on the edges of their seats and gain the degree of live experience he requires to catapult his game to the highest level.

The staff must yet conjure a way to maximize Dunn, even if he doesn't get the 25 "touches" a game that everyone is talking about, and of blending in first-round choice T.J. Duckett, who figures to emerge as a workhorse. The former Michigan State star is a big man who flashed little man's feet in the preseason opener last week, and his straightline speed is in keeping with the new rallying cry here.

"The big man has some moves," said Jacksonville defensive tackle Larry Smith, left flailing at air a couple times on Duckett carries. "When he gets that big body moving, you don't want to be in front of it."

If there is a seeming need on offense, it is that of a deep receiver, a position the Falcons overlooked in the first round to instead grab Duckett, whom they did not feel would be available. Lanky youngster Brian Finneran will play faster than people think because of his size, but there is no wideout who can force opposition cornerbacks to start backpedaling as soon as the Falcons break the huddle.

For that reason, Dunn likely will be utilized in the slot, where he can create mismatches with safeties and linebackers, and where his elusiveness out in space should turn into some big plays. Veteran receiver Willie Jackson is a proven pro who can move the chains and former Jags reserve Alvis Whitted possesses mind-numbing speed. But Jackson has never been a deep threat and Whitted, capable of blowing past almost any corner in the league, is most noted for his inconsistent hands and has never caught more than 13 balls in a season.

Said one Atlanta veteran earlier this summer: "For what Michael wants to do, throw the ball up the field deep, we still need to develop somebody. It's a solid group, especially with (Jackson) here now, but somebody has to go and grab those (Vick) lasers. We're faster in most places, but not necessarily at (the wide receiver) spots."

The speed theme even extends to the defense, where new coordinator Wade Phillips has installed a 3-4, and refuses to listen to the skeptics who suggest he doesn't have optimum personnel to run the scheme. Phillips will demand that everyone chase the football, has constructed his blueprint around star linebacker Keith Brooking, and will permit sticky corners Ray Buchanan and Ashley Ambrose to do what they do best, which is cover.

Most people who saw the Falcons last year, when they statistically ranked No. 30 in the league, acknowledged the team had better personnel than that. The 3-4 certainly will highlight the unit's strength, its linebackers, and allow Brooking to emerge as one of the NFL's premier inside defenders.

Only time will tell if Atlanta, which has won just 16 games since its Super Bowl appearance, is a decidedly better team in 2002. What the Falcons hope is that they are on, at long last, the fast track back to respectability.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.