Falcons win after losing 27-7 lead in 4th quarter

Atlanta Falcons kicker Matt Bryant (3) celebrates after kicking the game-winning field goal Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in Atlanta. The Falcons squandered a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, then mounted a comeback to win 30-28.

Atlanta Falcons kicker Matt Bryant (3) celebrates after kicking the game-winning field goal Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in Atlanta. The Falcons squandered a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, then mounted a comeback to win 30-28.

Monday, January 14, 2013

— 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.

photo

AP

Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) was disconsolate after the Seahawks lost Sunday’s NFC playoff game.The Seahawks couldn’t hold on to a 28-27 lead and lost in the final seconds.

The Atlanta Falcons finally showed they could win a playoff game, even if they had to overcome a fourth-quarter meltdown to do it.

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 30-28 victory over Russell Wilson and the gutty Seattle Seahawks in a divisional game Sunday.

“Wow!” Falcons Coach Mike Smith said.

Atlanta (14-3) squandered a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, falling behind for the first time when Marshawn Lynch scored on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left and Ryan Longwell kicked the extra point for a 28-27 lead.

No team has won a playoff game when facing such a deficit in the final period.

The Falcons, thanks to Ryan and Bryant, didn’t become the first to lose one.

Ryan found Harry Douglas on a 29-yard pass in front of the Falcons bench, and Smith called timeout. Then, Ryan went down the middle to 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 won their first postseason game since the 2004 season, advancing to host San Francisco in the NFC championship game next Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

“Nobody flinched,” Ryan said. “We just kept battling, kept doing what we do. That’s been the makeup of our team all season.”

Bryant’s field goal was his third game-winner of the season, but he’d never made one like this, with so much on the line.

Bryant said he walked the sideline after the Seahawks scored, approaching Ryan, the offensive linemen and the receivers.

Bryant’s message was the same to all: “ ‘We’ve done this before.’ ”

Wilson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, doing all he could for the Seahawks (12-6). But the Seattle defense, which is one of the NFL’s best and had stymied the Falcons in the fourth quarter, went to a softer coverage and got burned.

Atlanta had just enough time to pull off a comeback of its own.

“When the game was over, I was very disappointed,” Wilson said. “But walking back into the tunnel, I got so excited about next year. The resilience we showed was unbelievable.”

Wilson finished with 385 yards passing as the Seahawks wiped out a 27-7 deficit entering the final quarter. When Lynch powered over, the ball breaking the goal line just before it squirted from his arms, Seattle celebrated like it had won its second consecutive playoff game on the road, having already taken care of Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins.

According to STATS, it would’ve been the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NFL playoff history.

Not so fast.

Ryan led the Falcons back, wiping out his 0-3 mark in the playoffs, including a loss to Green Bay two years ago when the Falcons were in the same position, the NFC’s top seeded team with home-field advantage in the playoffs.

“The one thing I’ve learned during my five years in the league, and specifically in the postseason, is that it’s hard,” Ryan said.

Now, he’ll no longer be asked why he can’t win in the playoffs.

“That’s going to be nice,” Ryan said. “But our goal is not to win one playoff game. Our goals are still in front of us. We still have two more games to go. That’s the mind-set I have. That’s the mind-set this team has.”

Wilson’s last throw, a desperation heave into the end zone, was intercepted by Falcons receiver Julio Jones.

Gonzalez, who had never won a playoff game in his 16-year career, broke down in tears after Bryant’s kick went through the uprights.

“I’ve never cried after a win,” said Gonzalez, who has stated repeatedly that he’s “95 percent” sure this is his final year. “I was thinking, ‘Here we go again. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”’

Ryan threw three touchdown passes, tying a Falcons playoff record, and finished24 of 35 for 250 yards - the first time he’s eclipsed 200 yards in the postseason. He threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez, a 47-yarder to Roddy White and a 5-yarder to Jason Snelling, the latter with 2:11 left in the third quarter to give the Falcons a seemingly commanding lead.

Wilson took over from there, running 1 yard for a touchdown to make it 27-14, then going to Zach Miller on a 3-yard touchdown pass that closed the gap to 27-21.

Finally, taking over at his own 39 after an Atlanta punt, Wilson completed three passes for 50 yards, the last of them a short throw to Lynch that the bruising runner took all the way to the Falcons 3. Wilson made it all possible by spinning away from blitzing Atlanta linebacker Sean Weatherspoon to keep the play alive.

The Seahawks will not only reflect on the last Falcons’ drive, but for the way they squandered two scoring chances in the first half.

On fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 11, Seattle passed on a field goal and a chance to give the ball to Lynch, their beast of a back. Fullback Michael Robinson took the hand off and was stuffed for a 1-yard loss by safety William Moore.

Then, with the clock winding down before halftime, Wilson was sacked by Jonathan Babineaux at the Atlanta 20. The Seahwarks were out of timeouts and time ran out before they could get off another play, sending Atlanta to the locker room with a 20-0 lead.

Bryant made field goals of 37 and 39 yards in the first half.

“At halftime, we talked about how we can’t get ahead right away. It’s going to take awhile,” Seattle Coach Pete Carroll said. “It was an exquisite job of refocusing to a football game after being down like that.”

Playoffs at a glance

WILD-CARD PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY, JAN. 5

Houston 19, Cincinnati 13 Green Bay 24, Minnesota 10

SUNDAY, JAN. 6

Baltimore 24, Indianapolis 9 Seattle 24, Washington 14

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Baltimore 38, Denver 35, 2OT San Francisco 45, Green Bay 31

SUNDAY’S GAMES

Atlanta 30, Seattle 28 New England 41, Houston 28

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

SUNDAY, JAN. 20 All times Central

San Francisco at Atlanta, 2 p.m.

Baltimore at New England, 5:30 p.m.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, FEB. 3 At New Orleans

AFC champ vs. NFC champ, 5 p.m.

Sports, Pages 13 on 01/14/2013