On Saturday afternoon, the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Seattle Seahawks 36-20 in the NFC Divisional playoffs, advancing to the NFC Championship Game. The Falcons got a 300-yard passing performance from Matt Ryan, who did not throw an interception in the game.
Atlanta trailed 7-0 after the first quarter, but recorded 19 points in the second stanza, thanks to touchdowns by Julio Jones and Tevin Coleman, a Matt Bryant field goal, and a safety. They led 19-10 at the half, then scored a touchdown early in the third quarter to take a commanding two-possession lead. Seattle never got back to within 10 points after that, and the Falcons’ pass rush harassed Russell Wilson for the remainder of the game, sacking him three times in total on the day.
Next week, the Falcons will play in the NFC title game on Sunday, but the site of that game is still to be determined. The Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys contest will decide the venue; if the top-seeded Cowboys win, Dallas will host Atlanta, but the Packers would travel to Atlanta if Green Bay wins tomorrow. Regardless of the host, that game will be held at 3:00 PM Eastern Time next Sunday, with the AFC game kicking off at about 6:40 ET.