Falcons rally in final seconds to stun San Francisco

Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman cuts in front of San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner during the second half of Sunday's game in Santa Clara, Calif. / AP photo by Josie Lepe
Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman cuts in front of San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner during the second half of Sunday's game in Santa Clara, Calif. / AP photo by Josie Lepe

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan outshined his former offensive coordinator in an MVP-type fashion San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan knows quite well.

Yet even this rally might have been more improbable than either could have imagined. Two Falcons touchdowns in the final five seconds. A pair of replay reversals in the last eight ticks of the clock, including Austin Hooper's apparent touchdown reception for the visitors being ruled no good.

Ryan connected with Julio Jones on a 5-yard pass that did get ruled a touchdown after a replay reversal went Atlanta's way with two seconds left, sending Atlanta past the playoff-bound 49ers 29-22 on Sunday.

"That was awesome. At the end, game on the line, those are the moments as a coach that you totally live for," Atlanta's Dan Quinn said. "It makes you feel most alive."

The upset by the Falcons (5-9) forces the 49ers (11-3) to win out if they want to hold on to the NFC's No. 1 seed for the postseason.

Jones initially was called short of the goal line with the Falcons trailing 22-17, but a replay showed the ball breaking the plane as the Atlanta receiver leaped in the air while being tackled by Jimmie Ward.

"When you're down that tight in the red zone, there are going to be tight window throws. It was a great effort," Ryan said. "The call didn't go our way. At that point, you have to have the mindset of just getting right back to it and finding a way to get the job done the following play."

photo The Atlanta Falcons' Olamide Zaccheaus celebrates after recovering a fumble to score a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers at the end of the game Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif. AP photo by John Hefti

When things couldn't get crazier, well, they did. On the final kickoff, Atlanta scored another touchdown when Olamide Zaccheaus came up with the ball as the 49ers were tossing it around in desperation.

San Francisco still clinched its first playoff berth since a 2013 run to the NFC championship game, thanks to the Los Angeles Rams' loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

"All we can do is win these next two games," Shanahan said. "When you get to this point in the year with where we're at and what we've done, we're encouraged by one thing right now, and that's winning. That's how it's going to be the rest of the year."

On an afternoon when Jimmy Garoppolo and the offense hardly shined, San Francisco's other units did their best to hold off Ryan until the quarterback exhibited the poise of a former MVP in a dramatic final minute - or, make that 12 seconds.

Kyle Juszczyk recovered a fumble on the punt return team early in the fourth quarter then caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo two plays later as the 49ers briefly gave themselves some room before failing to close it out.

Fill-in safety Marcell Harris broke up a pass in the end zone intended for Hooper in the waning moments. Then with eight seconds remaining, Hooper couldn't keep hold of the ball in the end zone, though the Falcons already were celebrating an upset when the play went to a review and the catch was overturned because the ball hit the ground.

They got one more chance and made it count. Then Atlanta celebrated for real, leaving San Francisco's players stunned.

Al Riveron, the NFL's senior vice president of officiating, said because Hooper's apparent catch got called a touchdown it automatically came to New York for another look.

"The ball actually takes him to the ground. This is the one remaining situation where you have two steps, but if you don't have a football move, you're going to the ground, you must survive the ground," Riveron told a pool reporter. "In this situation, he takes the ball, it hits the ground and then he loses control of the football when he comes back up. Therefore, it's an incomplete pass."

Before Juszczyk's timely pounce, it appeared there was no way Ryan would get the best of Shanahan and San Francisco just a week after the 49ers put up 48 points in New Orleans. The Falcons got within 19-17 on Qadree Ollison's 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth.

Facing his former team and now in his third year as 49ers coach, Shanahan's high-powered offense fizzled much of the day.

Shanahan spent two seasons as coordinator in Atlanta, including coaching Ryan during his 2016 MVP year as the Falcons set a franchise record by scoring 540 points and Ryan had career bests in passing yards (4,944), touchdown passes (38) and passer rating (117.1). Then the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, and Shanahan left for the Bay Area soon after that.

Out West, Shanahan and Garoppolo hope for their own special playoff run with a different result at the end.

Ryan threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jones midway through the second quarter and the Falcons led 10-7 on Younghoe Koo's 43-yard field goal late in the quarter before the 49ers tied it with a 22-yard field goal by Robbie Gould.

The 49ers made plays on defense despite their depleted secondary that was missing cornerback Richard Sherman, safety Jaquiski Tarrt and slot cornerback K'Waun Williams.

Harris, in for Tartt, made the big breakup late and also batted away a third-down pass by Ryan on Atlanta's opening series. Dre Greenlaw had a deflection as the Falcons punted again on their next possession.

"I thought our defense played great all day. They gave us an opportunity offensively. Special teams got the turnover, but yeah, you give a good quarterback like that much time, it's tough," Garoppolo said of Ryan.

In the closing minute of the third quarter, Grady Jarrett forced a fumble by 49ers running back Matt Breida and recovered at the Falcons' 34, but Atlanta couldn't make good on it.

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