Geoff JohnsonWith the divisional weekend over, it was decided the final in the national conference, with the San Francisco 49ers going to the game on back to back seasons, and Matt Ryan and the Falcons wining his first playoffs game of his career.
The 49ers destroyed the Packers 45-31 and in a match that was a close contest until the third quarter; from then it was a tremendous display by San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick passed for 263 yards and ran for another 181; he scored four touchdowns for his team. “It feels good. We’re one step closer to where we want to be,” Kaepernick said. “I feel like I had a lot to prove. A lot of people doubted my ability to lead this team.”
“Our offensive line did an amazing job today,” Kaepernick said. “They shut everybody down inside. Our receivers, our tight ends, blocked great outside, and our running backs were running hard, so it made it easier on me.”
The 49ers will have to visit the Falcons, which eliminated their NFC West rivals, Seahawks, in a cardiac fashion.
“Nobody flinched,” Ryan said. “We just kept battling, kept doing what we do. That’s been the makeup of our team all season.”
“When they scored their touchdown, I walked down (the sideline),” Kicker Matt Bryant said. “I told the offensive line, I told Matt (Ryan), I told all the receivers, `We’ve done this before.”
San Francisco is 3.5 favorites in the early lines for the NFC championship game.
