The NFC West runners-up thus not only secured their first-ever postseason berth in franchise history, but earned a home playoff game under the expanded ten team format.
Hosting the Philadelphia Eagles in their first ever playoff game, the Falcons scored two touchdowns in their final fourteen minutes to pull out a 14–13 win.
In their final drive, the Falcons fell inches short of a first down on the Cowboys' 32-yard line, as Dallas got the ball and ran down the clock.
Atlanta erased a 17–7 deficit in the final 5:38 of the game, beating San Francisco on Tim Mazzetti's last-second, 29-yard field goal.
Steve Bartkowski, who suffered a separate shoulder last Monday, ran for one touchdown and threw a 37-yard scoring pass to Wallace Francis as Atlanta spoiled the head coaching debutof the 49ers' Fred O'Connor who replaced the fired Pete McCulley on Tuesday.