The NFL is a game of opportunities and Matt Ryan took advantage of those opportunities during the first half, but that was all.
In similar fashion to what happened against the Seattle Seahawks, Matt Ryan known as Matty Ice melted.
By half-time Matt Ryan had already destroyed the San Francisco 49ers defense. Ryan was 18 of 24, with 271 passing yards and three touchdowns. His 18 completions were to only three players, Julio Jones (7), Roddy White (6) Tony Gonzalez (5 and more than half of Atlanta’s 33 plays resulted in first downs (17). In fact, it wasn’t until five minutes into the 4th quarter someone other than those three would catch a ball.
The stellar defense of the 49ers who only allowed 206 passing yards per game allowed 271 in just the first half, the most since 2009.
Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers offense continued to chip away at the lead and scored on three consecutive possessions driving 85, 76, and 82 yards for touchdowns.
The 49ers inability to rush the passer gave Matt Ryan the time in the pocket to pick the defense apart and it wasn’t until the middle of the third quarter when the pressure finally amounted to a Matt Ryan turnover. The interception by Chris Culliver and then subsequent fumble by Matty Ice gave the 49ers a lead 28-24.
After 18 pass completions Ryan would only complete four passes during the second half and wouldn’t score.
There was no late success this time around for the Falcons and Matt Ryan. After getting the monkey off their back and winning a playoff game you have to look at what they have done. They blew a 20-point lead to the Seahawks and then a 17-point lead to the 49ers which this time would end their season.
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