Matt Ryan wins first playoff game; Patriots advance

The conference title games are set: San Francisco at Atlanta, Sunday, 3 p.m. (FOX); Baltimore at New England, Sunday, 6:30 (CBS). Here are the recaps from this past weekend’s divisional round:

» Falcons 30, Seahawks 28: In the wildest game of the divisional round, Matt Ryan finally won a

postseason game after rallying the Falcons for a field goal in the closing seconds. Ryan hit Harry Douglas on a 29-yard pass, then Tony Gonzalez on a 19-yarder to setup Matt Bryant for a 49-yard try. It sailed through the uprights with eight ticks left to give the NFC’s top seed a dramatic victory. The Falcons had been in cruise control before blowing a 20-point lead in the fourth. Ryan entered the game with an 0-3 record in playoff games.

» Ravens 38, Broncos 35: Joe Flacco’s 70-yard fling to Jacoby Jones sent this one into overtime and Ray Lewis into hysterics. Lewis, playing in the final postseason of his Hall of Fame career, and the Ravens scored a win in double overtime after Justin Tucker kicked a 47-yard field goal.

Peyton Manning was picked off on Denver’s second OT possession, setting up the game-winning kick.

» Patriots 41, Texans 28: Tom Brady ran the Patriots’ up-tempo offense to perfection and threw for three touchdowns to advance to the AFC championship game. Brady also moved past Joe Montana in the record books with his 17th postseason win. New England put up 457 yards of total offense against Houston, which boasts one of the best defenses in the NFL.

» 49ers 45, Packers 31: Colin Kaepernick validated his coach’s trust by turning in a performance for the ages. He rushed for a QB-record 181 yards, while throwing for 263 (two scores) in his playoff debut. Remember, some had questioned Jim Harbaugh’s decision to turn the keys over to Kaepernick permanently, after Alex Smith passed his concussion test.