Super Bowl:
Atlanta dusts Green Bay, and New England routs Pittsburgh to advance to Houston.
ATLANTA — Matt Ryan tumbled into the end zone, spiked the ball and let out a scream that showed how much he wanted this game.
He wants the next one even more.
With another MVP-worthy performance and plenty of help from Julio Jones, the player nicknamed Matty Ice guided the Atlanta Falcons to a 44-21 rout of the Green Bay Packers for the NFC championship Sunday, a showing that erased any doubts about whether Ryan can win big games.
In his ninth season, he’s finally headed to his first Super Bowl.
“We’ll enjoy it because it’s hard to get to this point. I know that from experience,” Ryan said. “But our ultimate goal is still in front of us.”
The Falcons will face Tom Brady and the Patriots on Feb. 5 in Houston, just the second Super Bowl appearance in Atlanta’s 51-year history. Eighteen years ago, the Falcons lost to Denver in John Elway’s final game.
Ryan threw for 392 yards and four touchdowns, but it was his 14-yard scoring run — his first TD on the ground since 2012 — that really set the tone.
Jones was right in the middle of things, too. After barely practicing during the week because of a lingering toe injury, he finished off the Packers with a 73-yard reception on Atlanta’s second snap of the second half, pushing the lead to 31-0 and turning the rest of the Georgia Dome finale essentially into one long celebration.
“He’s a beast,” Ryan said. “I’ve been lucky to play with him as long as I have. He was impressive today. I know he wasn’t feeling his best, but he’s a warrior.”
Jones finished with nine catches for 180 yards and two scores, which included a toedragging catch for a 5-yard touchdown with three seconds left in the first half, sending the Falcons to the locker room up 24-0.
“I didn’t practice that much throughout the week,” Jones said, “but today I came out and gave it all I had.”
Ryan sparked more delirious chants of “MVP!” as he carved up an injury-plagued Green Bay secondary that had no way to stop a team that averaged nearly 34 points a game during the regular season and romped to a 36-20 victory against Seattle’s Legion of Boom the previous weekend.
The Packers, riding an eight-game winning streak and coming off a thrilling upset of the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys, got a taste of what they’d be in for on Atlanta’s first possession. Driving 80 yards in 13 plays, the Falcons converted three third downs, the last when Ryan scrambled away from pressure and flipped a shovel pass to Mohamed Sanu for a 2-yard score.
Aaron Rodgers pushed the Packers quickly into Atlanta territory with a 27-yard pass to Jordy Nelson. But Mason Crosby pushed a 41-yard attempt right to snap a playoffrecord streak of field goals converted at 23.
The Falcons drove the other way, settling for Matt Bryant’s 28-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead. Then, with Green Bay poised to make a game of it, Atlanta’s much-maligned defense — one of the lowest ranked in the NFL — delivered a momentumswinging play. Fullback Aaron Ripkowski was breaking tackles and rumbling toward the end zone when Jalen Collins stripped the ball from behind and fell on it just across the goal line for a touchback.
“Their offense is hot right now,” Rodgers said. “Playing a team like that, you’ve got to start faster. We had no points in the first half. You’re not going to win many games like that.”