Niners travel to Atlanta after Falcons rally
The top two seeds in the NFC meet at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta next Saturday after the Falcons blew a huge early lead over the Seattle Seahawks only to rally in the final seconds.
Matt Bryant's 49-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining was the difference after Russell Wilson had rallied the Seahawks with three fourth-quarter touchdowns. The game had appeared to be over at half-time as the Falcons, the top seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record, jumped out to a 20-0 lead. The Seahawks refused opportunities to score twice on field goals and ultimately those decisions would cost head coach Pete Carroll when Ryan drove the Falcons into position for the winning score.
Coming into town will be the San Francisco 49ers, who repeated their opening week victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field by taking care of the Pack at Candlestick Park. Colin Kaepernick threw for 263 yards with a couple of scores and ran for 181 yards and two further touchdowns in an historic performance. The 49ers quarterback set a playoff record for rushing yards by a QB as San Francisco piled up 579 yards worth of offense.
The Falcons and Niners had multiple common opponents on the season, not least the Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions, but by far the most striking was their respective results against the New York Giants. San Francisco lost at home to New York in the sixth game of the season while Atlanta's 34-0 shut-out of the defending Super Bowl Champions remains their signature victory of the season.
The Falcons are 6.50 to win the Super Bowl while the 49ers are 3.00.
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