Even on bad toe, Falcons’ Jones dominates Packers defense

If this is Julio Jones on a bad wheel, imagine what he can do with two weeks to let that troublesome toe heal before Super Bowl LI.

The Atlanta Falcons all-pro wide receiver blew the roof off the Georgia Dome with his holdbreaking, tackle-busting 73-yard touchdown explosion in the third quarter of a 44-21 rout of the Green Bay Packers in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

And that was just one of the highlights of a dominant performance by Jones, who finished with nine catches for 180 yards and two TDs, eight days after aggravating the sprained toe on his left foot that kept him out of two games last month.

Jones, 27, missed two practices last week but insisted he’d be ready to go against the Packers. Was he ever.

He had a toe-tapping 5-yard touchdown catch on a backshoulder throw from Matt Ryan just before halftime that made the score 24-0. After a Packers three-and-out to start the second half, Jones beat cornerback La- Darius Gunter on an in-breaking route, then stiff-armed Damarious Randall as he raced up the sideline for the long TD that extended Atlanta’s lead to 31-0.

Later in the third quarter, Jones held on to a 23-yard catch deep over the middle despite getting flipped over by Gunter and Packers linebacker Jake Ryan, drawing chants of “Julio! Julio!” from the crowd. A 13-yard catch by Jones on third-and-6 set up another Atlanta TD early in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons led the NFL this season in scoring with Ryan spreading the football around in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, using the team’s speed all over the field to exploit mismatches. But as Ryan said after the divisionalround win against the Seattle Seahawks, Jones is a good matchup every week.

He had six catches for 67 yards and a touchdown against Seattle, which used star cornerback Richard Sherman on him extensively. Gunter got the primary assignment Sunday and didn’t have any more success.

Now Jones can use the extra week to rest before heading to Houston for the Feb. 5 title game against the New England Patriots. If he even needs it.

JASON GETZ, USA TODAY SPORTS The Falcons’ Julio Jones finishes off his 73-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter Sunday, part of his 180-yard, two-TD day.