The city of New Orleans can rejoice… the rival Atlanta Falcons and their fans will not be invading their city in two weeks.
Sunday afternoon the 49ers completed an impressive 17 point comeback as they defeated the NFC’s best regular season team the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 from the Georgia Dome.
And for the second straight week, the Falcons blew a huge lead this time though they weren’t able to overcome once again after leading essentially the entire game.
With 8:23 left to play the 49ers took their first lead of the game and used a big stop with less than two minutes left to seal the victory. Atlanta’s last real chance to regain the lead came after a controversial catch by Atlanta’s Harry Douglas that appeared to of hit the ground as he was falling to the turf. A replay from upstairs upheld the call as Jim Harbaugh went into a full fledged temper tantrum on the sidelines.
Despite the possible missed call, the 49ers stood tall on a fourth and four inside the 10 yard line to force a turnover on downs all while apparently injuring the shoulder of Matt Ryan.
That injury to Matt Ryan also turned out to be pretty substantial as the Falcons QB looked unable to heave the ball down field with seconds left in the fourth to force another miracle comeback for Atlanta.
Now the Niners led by Colin Kaepernick will head to their first Super Bowl since 1994 to face either the New England Patriots or John Harbaugh (Jim Harbaugh’s brother) and the Baltimore Ravens.