ATLANTA-The Atlanta Falcons have never won the Super Bowl, losing decisively to the Denver Broncos after the 1998 season in their only previous trip.
It could be different this time, though.
The Falcons showed in their 44-21 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game, just as they have all season, that they are a team on a mission.
"They have a good football team. There is a reason that they are moving on to the Super Bowl,"Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "They're going to be tough to stop."
The Falcons couldn't hold a 17-point lead and lost to San Francisco in the NFC Championship Game following the 2012 season, but it looked as if they would be contenders for years to come.
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The team went into a skid, though, and Mike Smith was fired as head coach. Dan Quinn, the defensive coordinator in Seattle, was brought in before the 2015 season, and it wasn't clear how long the rebuild would take.
The Falcons went 8-8 last season, and many didn't predicted a much better record this year.
With quarterback Matt Ryan leading the way, the NFC South champion Falcons won their final four games in the regular season to finish 11-5 and claim the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Atlanta led the NFL by scoring 33.8 points per game in the regular season and has been even more potent in the playoffs, following a 36-20 victory over the Seahawks with the rout of thePackers.
"You know, there is something that kind of kicks in, and a feel like it has for our team," Ryan said.
Ryan completed 27 of 38 passes for 392 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran 14 yards for a score. Star wide receiver Julio Jones, who fought through a toe injury much of the season, caught nine passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
"We ran into a buzz saw," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "Those guys performed great, and we didn't have enough to keep up with them."
Ryan posted a 117.5 passer rating in the regular season and has been even better in the playoffs. He had a 125.7 rating against the Seahawks and a 139.4 mark against the Packers.
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"For me, I hope Matt's right in the middle," Quinn said when asked to assess Ryan's career. "I don't think it's time to talk about legacy stuff. I hope we're battling for a long time together."
The Falcons are hard to stop because of their many weapons. Eight players had catches before halftime Sunday, and the team has a dynamic running back duo, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.
"We fight for one another, believe in one another. It's remarkable how close we are," said wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, signed away from the Cincinnati Bengals as a free agent in the offseason. "We've put in so much time and worked so hard, it's great to see the result."
The Packers, who were 4-6 before running off eight straight victories, couldn't stop the Falcons and then lost player after player to injury.
"This is clearly not the way we anticipated or prepared for our season to end," McCarthy said. "But I think it's more of a credit to the Falcons, and frankly, we ran out of gas."
