Falcons survive late Seahawks rally, advance with 30-28 win

• Atlanta gets first playoff win of Mike Smith/Matt Ryan era
• Julio Jones finally ices game by intercepting Russell Wilson%27s last-gasp Hail Mary
• Seattle stormed back to take last-minute 28-27 lead after trailing 20-0

ATLANTA -- They were still exhaling in relief, still soaking in an improbable postseason breakthrough when someone threw cold water on the Atlanta Falcons' post-game celebration a half-hour after they exorcized their postseason demons.

Someone raised the name of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said his "pair of Matty Ices'', quarterback Matt Ryan and kicker Matt Bryant, collaborated to complete a last-minute comeback that Bryant sealed with his 49-yard field goal for a 30-28 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC divisional playoffs.

The first playoff win of the coach Mike Smith-Ryan era after four tries vaulted the top-seeded Falcons into Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the 49ers for the right to advance to Super Bowl XLVII.

All Kaepernick did in Saturday night's divisional throttling of Green Bay was gain 444 yards of offense -- all by himself. Kaepernick threw for 263 yards, two touchdowns and ran for another two touchdowns and 181 yards, a postseason rushing record by a quarterback that keyed San Francisco's 45-31 romp.

In other words, Kaepernick is Russell Wilson squared.

"We got that monkey off our backs, and now we've got to break new ground go get a championship win and hopefully go on to New Orleans to get another,'' safety Thomas DeCoud said, referencing Super Bowl XLVII. "We're going to see another physical team. This game gave us a cheat sheet for us to go see another good mobile quarterback.''

Kaepernick is arguably a more dangerous threat than unflinching rookie Wilson, who rallied the fifth-seeded Seahawks from a 27-7 third-quarter deficit.

"We're ready to do it all over again and play a little better than we did today,'' cornerback Dunta Robinson said. "I watched San Francisco play. It's going to be tough. We know how electrifying he (Kaepernick) was.

"We learned if we want to go where we can go, we need to tackle and cover better than this.''

PHOTOS: SEAHAWKS VS. FALCONS

Ryan changed the narrative on his career and previously personal 0-3 postseason record with a Tom Brady-esque comeback drive. He hit two passes for 41 yards to set up Bryant's winner after Seattle rallied from a 27-7 third-quarter hole to lead 28-27 with 31 seconds left.

Ryan shrugged off the 800-pound gorilla that had hung on his shoulders the past few Januarys.

"Matt Ryan showed a lot of poise,'' Seahawks general manager John Schneider said. "For him to do what he did there at the end of the game was outstanding for him, and I'm happy to see him get over all those things that people were talking about. He's a great talent, and they're an excellent football team.''

What figures to help them go toe-to-toe with a second-ranked 49ers scoring defense allowing 17.1 points per game is that the Falcons pounded out a season-high 167 yards on the ground, effectively out-bludgeoning the Seahawks at their own ground-and-pound game.

They held Marshawn Lynch to 46 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries, while Jacquiz Rodgers was the running back who went "Beast Mode'' in jacking up safety Earl Thomas on his 45-yard second-quarter run.

"The 49ers are a great football team. Defensively they're stout up front with a great linebacking corps,'' center Todd McClure said. "(Defensive lineman) Justin Smith is a force."

"It's going to be a challenge for us. I'm sure no one will give us a shot. If we get our running game going like we did today, it gives us a lot of hope for next week.''

The 49ers corners can be had by the dynamic receiving duo of Roddy White and Julio Jones the same way White was able to beat mouthy Seahawks corner Richard Sherman on a diving 47-yard touchdown.

"He's a bit of a talker,'' White said. "I just asked him to talk to me for a little while. But he didn't have too much to say after that play.

"The 49ers will be a challenge. There's going to be a chance for us to hit some shots down the field, and we have to take advantage of them. But those guys are a good football team. We've got to be ready to play.''

The Falcons defense will have to show a better killer instinct.

Wilson diced them for 241 second-half passing yards, two passing scores and another rushing in rallying the Seahawks to the brink. When Lynch scored from 2 yards out to put Seattle ahead, 28-27 with 31 seconds left, tight end Tony Gonzalez thought his 16-year career was done with one glaring hole left on his Hall of Fame resume -- that missing Super Bowl ring.

"I was on the sideline thinking, 'Well, I guess this is it. This is how I'm going to go out,''' Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez, who caught Ryan's 19-yard slant pass to set up Bryant's kick, wound up crying on the Georgia Dome field after breaking an 0-for-5 personal postseason skid dating to his career in Kansas City.

Blank told USA TODAY Sports he also shed tears for Falcons fans, general manager Thomas Dimitroff, Smith, Gonzalez and Ryan.

Such an emotional win can empower a team with a feeling of destiny, propelling it to the two more wins needed to lift the first Lombardi Trophy in the franchise's 47-year existence.

"I think so,'' said Ryan, who threw for three touchdowns to offset two interceptions. "We found different ways to win the entire year. We're a confident bunch. We feel we can go play with anybody.

"We've got the talent, the confidence. We just need to play our best football.''