Atlanta at Minnesota


A final four to shout about


Falcons fly past Niners and into first NFC title game


Disputed call nearly shoots down Falcons


Reeves stays subdued in return to sideline

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Falcons are doing their best to erase 32 years of misery.

	Chris Chandler says the Falcons have been "modifying goals" all season long.

Two seasons removed from a 3-13 season and trying desperately to shake their sorry past, the Falcons find themselves in the NFC Championship Game for the first time.

Beyond that, there's the Super Bowl.

"We dreamed about it a lot, but we were not sure it was a reachable goal," quarterback Chris Chandler said after Atlanta defeated San Francisco 20-18 in a divisional playoff Saturday. "It's been a season of modifying goals all the way."

History is being modified, too. The Falcons have long been considered one of the league's worst franchises, plagued by bad trades (Brett Favre began his career in Atlanta), bad drafts (Aundray Bruce was the No. 1 overall pick in 1988) and bad hirings (Remember Norb Hecker? He was the team's first coach).

The Falcons had seven winning records in their first 32 seasons, making the playoffs a mere five times. Before Saturday, they had only two postseason victories -- the last coming in 1991 -- and never survived past the second round.

Suddenly, at the midway point of 1997, the Falcons stripped themselves of their losing legacy. Since then, they have won 21 of 25 games -- including a 15-2 record this season.

Next Sunday, Atlanta will play at Minnesota for a trip to the Jan. 31 Super Bowl in Miami.

	CREAM OF THE CROP
	The four teams remaining are the elite squads from their respective conferences:
		NFC ranking
		Falcons	Vikings
	Scoring offense	3rd	1st
	Scoring defense	2nd	4th
	TO margin	1st	2nd
	Starting QBs	3rd*	1st*
	QB rankings for Chris Chandler and Randall Cunningham respectively.

"The fun is just starting around here," tight end O.J. Santiago said. "When you're 14-2, you expect to win the first playoff game. The real test will come next week."

The Falcons' latest victory followed a familiar pattern. They controlled the clock for more than 32 minutes with their sledgehammer of a running back, Jamal Anderson, who carried 29 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Chandler threw sparingly but effectively (13-for-19 for 169 yards), freezing the Anderson-conscious 49ers with play-action passes.

Then there was the ball-hawking defense, a major reason the Falcons led the league with a plus-20 turnover margin. Atlanta intercepted three of Steve Young's passes and appeared to return a fumble for a touchdown, only to have the officials call the play back on a disputed decision.

"You can't say enough about the defense," said Falcons coach Dan Reeves, back on the sideline for the first time since heart bypass surgery on Dec. 14.

For the first time since 1991, the NFC's dominant trio -- San Francisco, Green Bay and Dallas -- won't be represented in the championship game. For the 49ers, that makes this season a disappointment.

"I think it's Super Bowl or bust, because that's how you get there," Young said. "You can tell by this locker room that there's somewhat of a train-wrecked feeling. I don't think there's anyone in here that didn't think we were going to go."

After jumping to a 14-0 lead on Anderson's scoring runs of 2 and 34 yards, the Falcons appeared to blow the game open when defensive end Chuck Smith picked up a loose ball and rambled to the end zone late in the first half.

The play began when Terry Kirby dropped a lateral pass from Young, prompting a confused scramble on the Georgia Dome turf between Kirby and Henri Crockett. The ball popped into Smith's arms, but the officials ruled Kirby briefly had possession and was touched by Crockett while his knee was down.

The 49ers took advantage of the call to score a touchdown and field goal in the final 1:10 of the half, going to the locker room with a 14-10 deficit instead of 21-0.

The old Falcons might have folded. The new Falcons stopped two San Francisco drives with interceptions, leading to field goals by Morten Andersen, then survived a late TD run by Young, whose final pass was William White's second interception.

"At halftime, (Reeves) told us we couldn't control what happened in the first half, so just go back out there and keep pounding and pounding," receiver Terance Mathis said.

The Falcons were glad to have Reeves back on the sideline, though the NFL Coach of the Year has not fully recovered from quadruple bypass surgery.

Reeves kept his notorious temper in check, and a team physician was always close by. During kickoffs and punt returns, Reeves stood about 15 yards back from the sideline, and he occasionally wandered as far as 65 yards away from the action.

"It was good to have him back, even if he was just his semi-self," Mathis said. "He's the leader, and we follow him."

Right to the NFC Championship Game.