ATLANTA — Matt Bryant pumped his fist and celebrated atop the Falcons logo in the middle of the field. Tony Gonzalez broke down in tears. Matt Ryan relished the thought of not having to answer a familiar question. ATLANTA —
ATLANTA — Matt Bryant pumped his fist and celebrated atop the Falcons logo in the middle of the field. Tony Gonzalez broke down in tears. Matt Ryan relished the thought of not having to answer a familiar question.
The Atlanta Falcons finally showed they could win a playoff game.
And, wow, what a game it was!
After a meltdown in the fourth quarter, the Falcons pulled off a comeback that will long be remembered in championship-starved Atlanta. Ryan completed two long passes, and Bryant kicked a 49-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining, lifting the NFC’s top seed to a stunning 30-28 victory over Russell Wilson and the gutty Seattle Seahawks in a divisional game Sunday.
“Wow!” said Falcons coach Mike Smith, summing up this classic as well as anyone could.
Atlanta (14-3) squandered a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, falling behind for the first time all day when Marshawn Lynch scored on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left and Ryan Longwell knocked through the extra point for a 28-27 lead.
No team has ever won a playoff game when facing such a daunting deficit in the final period.
The Falcons, thanks to a pair of Matty Ices — Ryan and Bryant — didn’t become the first.
Ryan, shaking off his struggles in three previous playoff losses and two interceptions against the Seahawks, hooked up with Harry Douglas on a 29-yard pass in front of the Falcons bench, and Smith quickly signaled a timeout. Then, Ryan went down the middle to his favorite target Gonzalez, a Hall of Famer-to-be playing what could’ve been his final game.
Gonzalez hauled in the 19-yard throw, and Smith called his final timeout with 13 seconds remaining. Instead of risking another play and having the clock run out, he sent Bryant in for the field goal try.
The Seahawks called time just before the ball was snapped, and Bryant’s kick sailed right of the upright. That turned out to be nothing more than practice. The next one was right down the middle as Bryant took off in the other direction, pumping his fist before he was mobbed by his teammates.
“Our quarterback is a special player,” Smith said. “They call him Matty Ice, but I feel like we’ve got two Matty Ices. There’s Matty Ice Ryan and Matty Ice Bryant.”
The Falcons overcame their reputation for choking in the playoffs, winning their first postseason game since the 2004 season. They’ll host San Francisco in the NFC championship game next Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
Bryant knocked through his third game-winning kick of the season. But he’d never made one like this, with so much on the line.
Wilson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, doing all he could to pull off the most improbable of comebacks for the Seahawks (12-6). But the Seattle defense, which is one of the NFL’s best and had totally stymied the Falcons in the fourth quarter, went to a softer coverage and got burned.
Falcons 30, Seahawks 28
Seattle 0 0 7 21 — 28
Atlanta 10 10 7 3 — 30
First quarter
Atl—FG Bryant 39, 9:40.
Atl—Gonzalez 1 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick), 3:10.
Second quarter
Atl—FG Bryant 37, 9:13.
Atl—White 47 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick), 4:16.
Third quarter
Sea—Tate 29 pass from Wilson (Longwell kick), 9:47.
Atl—Snelling 5 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick), 2:11.
Fourth quarter
Sea—Wilson 1 run (Longwell kick), 13:01.
Sea—Miller 3 pass from Wilson (Longwell kick), 9:13.
Sea—Lynch 2 run (Longwell kick), :31.
Atl—FG Bryant 49, :08.
A—70,366.
Sea Atl
First downs 28 24
Total Net Yards 491 417
Rushes-yards 28-123 26-167
Passing 368 250
Punt Returns 2-24 0-0
Kickoff Returns 1-37 4-105
Interceptions Ret. 2-3 1-0
Comp-Att-Int 24-36-1 24-35-2
Sacked-Yards Lost 2-17 0-0
Punts 3-36.7 2-42.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-35 3-11
Time of Possession 28:47 31:13
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Seattle, Wilson 7-60, Lynch 16-46, Turbin 4-18, Robinson 1-(minus 1). Atlanta, Turner 14-98, Rodgers 10-64, Ryan 1-6, Jones 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Seattle, Wilson 24-36-1-385. Atlanta, Ryan 24-35-2-250.
RECEIVING—Seattle, Miller 8-142, Tate 6-103, Rice 4-60, Lynch 3-37, Turbin 2-37, Baldwin 1-6. Atlanta, Jones 6-59, Gonzalez 6-51, White 5-76, Douglas 2-29, Rodgers 2-8, Coffman 1-16, Dr.Davis 1-6, Snelling 1-5.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
