Success right out of the tunnel

Call it beginner’s luck if you like, but the NFL’s four rookie head coaches have had quite a season.

Each will finish with at least a .500 record, and there’s a good chance three of them will wind up in the playoffs: Atlanta’s Mike Smith, Miami’s Tony Sparano and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh. The Falcons are already in, and the Dolphins and the Ravens can clinch a spot with a victory today.

The fourth rookie, Washington’s Jim Zorn, is out of the postseason race, but his 8-7 team can still finish with a winning record.

There’s no denying that the Dolphins’ turnaround has been remarkable. They won only one game last season, and had to rally to do so. Now, they’re on the brink of an AFC East title.

Just as astounding are the Falcons and the Ravens, whose resurgent teams have first-year coaches and rookie quarterbacks: Matt Ryan in Atlanta and Joe Flacco in Baltimore. Both teams are 10-5.

According to STATS LLC, the combinations of Smith and Ryan and Harbaugh and Flacco have already won three more games than any rookie coach-quarterback tandem since the 1970 merger.

Then again, before this season, there were only three such tandems: Dom Capers and Kerry Collins, whose 1995 Carolina Panthers finished 7-9; Ray Perkins and Phil Simms, whose 1979 New York Giants finished 6-10; and Dan Devine and Scott Hunter, whose 1971 Green Bay Packers were 4-8-2.

In terms of statistics, Ryan has had the better season of the two rookie quarterbacks. He has completed 61.7% of his passes for 3,280 yards, with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Flacco’s completion rate is 59.3%, and he has thrown for 2,674 yards with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has been sacked almost twice as much as his counterpart too, with 30 compared to Ryan’s 16.

Since 1960, only Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger had more victories as a rookie starting quarterback than Ryan and Flacco had this season. In 2004, the Steelers won 13 regular-season games with Roethlisberger as their starter.

Regardless of whether their teams win or lose today, Ryan and Flacco will wind up in the record books. They will join Rick Mirer, Peyton Manning and David Carr as the only rookie quarterbacks to start 16 games in a season.

Of course, this season’s dynamic duo is aiming even higher.

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sam.farmer@latimes.com