ATLANTA — The game was blown, lost, a 20-point fourth-quarter lead gone, vanished, replaced by a 28-27 deficit with only 31 seconds remaining, a roaring crowd silent and deflated, a Falcons team about to lose, yet again, in the playoffs, this one the most agonizing defeat of them all.
Matt Ryan was going to have to wait for his first playoff victory. So was coach Mike Smith. So was Hall of Famer-to-be Tony Gonzalez, headed to retirement after 16 brilliant years and absolutely no postseason success.
This was seconds away from being an epic collapse. A rookie wunderkind named Russell Wilson had brought the Seahawks to the brink of an incredible comeback.
“I think your past experiences kind of harden you,’’ Ryan said. “I think they make you a little tougher in those types of situations.’’
Perhaps all the past failures steeled Ryan’s resolve, perhaps he needed to lose his first three playoff games in order to brace for what was required. He took the ball at his own 28-yard line with 25 seconds and two timeouts to work with. Two pinpoint passes later, Matt Bryant — the former Giants kicker once part of an historic postseason meltdown — drilled the 49-yard field goal that catapulted the Falcons to a wild and crazy 30-28 victory in an NFC Divisional thrillerinside the Georgia Dome.
“We wanted this game really, really bad, we got off to such a good start, started off fast like we wanted to,’’ receiver Roddy White said. “That fourth quarter we kind of let everything get away from us.’’
That is why relief was the overriding emotion as the Falcons (14-3) as the No. 1 seed in the NFC wipe their brows and stay home for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the No. 2 seed 49ers (12-4-1). This group of Falcons had won a ton of games but not a single one in the playoffs, going 0-3 since the 2008 seasonand the pressure was immense to finally break through.
It looked as if this would be a resounding statement as the Falcons rolled to a 20-0 halftime lead, pounding away on the ground with Michael Turner and Jacquizz Rogers and getting Ryan scoring passes to Gonzalez and White— the downfield howitzer to White a 47-yarder over gifted but mouthy cornerback Richard Sherman.
“This game looked so crazy and one-sided. … I can’t imagine anyone expecting we would have a chance to get back in that game,’’ Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
Wilson, the diminutive rookie, was a terror in the second half. He completed his first 10 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, but the Falcons led 27-7 entering the fourth quarter. Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Wilson scrambled into the end zone and it was 27-14.
From there, the Falcons were gasping to get the game over. Ryan was intercepted by safety Earl Thomas and Wilson made Ryan pay by hitting Zach Miller to make it 27-21 with 9:13 left. The Falcons went three-and-out on their next two possessions and Wilson, deftly sidestepping a blitzing Leroy Hill, flipped a pass to Marshawn Lynch for 24 yards. Lynch scored from two yards out and with only 31 seconds left the Seahawks led 28-27.
On the sideline, Ryan told his teammates they had enough time.
“He was like ‘Let’s go win, we’ve done it before, let’s go win it again,’ ’’ White said.
Rodgers got a solid return to the Falcons’ 28. The first play was a 22-yard strike to Harry Douglas to the 50-yard line, but Douglas could not get out of bounds and the Falcons had to burn a timeout with 19 seconds left. The next play was over the middle to Gonzalez for 19 yards. The Falcons used their final timeout and with 13 seconds left Bryant trotted out and nailed the game-winner with eight seconds left.
“I was crying,’’ Gonzalez said. “I was crying like a little baby.’’
There was one last twist. Bryant was supposed to squib the kickoff but instead miss-hit the ball and the Seahawks got it on their 46-yard line. Wilson had time for two plays, but his Hail Mary into the end zone was interceptedby receiver Julio Jones, playing back at safety.
“We played bad in the second half, but the best team prevailed,’’ Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel said. “I changed Matty Ice’s name. I don’t know if you’re going to accept it, but it’s Matt ‘Black’ Ice. Black ice is slick, Matt is slick. Matt Black Ice! That’s his new name.’’