SAN FRANCISCO
AT ATLANTA
Time, TV: 2 p.m. today,
Ch. 9 Line: 49ers by 4
THE SKINNY
The 49ers offense looked unstoppable last week in rolling up a franchise playoff-record 579 yards. Atlanta got its first victory in a playoff game during the five years Mike Smith has been coach and Matt Ryan has been QB, but he needed a late 49-yard field goal by Matt Bryan to beat Seattle. Can Atlanta contain San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who ran for an NFL QB-record 181 yards and passed for 263 more last week? Kaepernick, 6-2 as a starter, has validated coach John Harbaugh's decision to bench Alex Smith.
ABOUT THE 49ERS
How they got here: San Francisco, the NFC West champion at 11-4-1, was the second seed in the NFC and, after a first-round bye, beat Green Bay 45-31.
Stats: San Francisco was 11th in the NFL in offense and third in defense.
Top guns: Kaepernick has passed for 12 TDs with four INTs and rushed for four TDs while posting a 6-2 record as the starter. RB Frank Gore had 1,213 yards rushing for a team-record sixth season with at least 1,000 yards rushing. WR Michael Crabtree had nine catches for 119 yards, two TDs against Packers. LB Aldon Smith's 33 1/2 sacks are a high total for a player in his first two seasons. Smith led the NFC with a team-record 19 1/2 sacks.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
How they got here: Atlanta, the NFC South champion at 13-3, was the No. 1 seed and beat Seattle 30-28 last week.
Stats: Atlanta was eighth in the league in offense and 24th in defense.