Falcons Soar Past San Fran

ATLANTA--Dan Reeves' heart is doing just fine. So are the Atlanta Falcons.

Inspired by their coach's return from heart surgery and ignoring a dismal past, the Falcons advanced to the NFC championship game for the first time with a stirring 20-18 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday.

"It's unbelievable. The whole year has been incredible," said Reeves, who underwent quadruple bypass surgery Dec. 14 and missed the final two regular season games. "To get to this point is beyond our wildest dreams."

The Falcons, with only eight winning seasons in 33 years, advanced to play either Minnesota or Arizona next Sunday. It will be the first time since the 1991-92 season that at least one of the NFC's dominant trio--San Francisco, Dallas and Green Bay--won't be represented.

Jamal Anderson scored two touchdowns, Atlanta intercepted three of Steve Young's passes and the Falcons overcame a questionable call to beat their NFC West rivals for the second time in three meetings this season.

The Falcons built a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter, but made the final seconds more nerve-wracking than they needed to be.

Young scored on an 8-yard run with 2:57 remaining, and the 49ers--thanks to the quick thinking of holder Ty Detmer--converted a two-point conversion after botching the snap on the extra point. Anderson ran for one first down, but then squandered a chance to nearly run out the clock by inexplicably running out of bounds with 49 seconds left.

San Francisco got the ball back on its own 4 with 33 seconds left and no timeouts. Young threw a 23-yard pass to Chuck Levy, but William White made sure there wasn't another miracle for the 49ers, intercepting a pass on the final play of the game.

San Francisco (13-5), which finished two games behind Atlanta in the division, lost Garrison Hearst on the first play of the game. The 1,500-yard rusher broke a bone when his left leg buckled under him.

With Terry Kirby taking over the bulk of the running duties, the 49ers rushed for only 46 yards.

"We realize that Garrison is a big part of our offense," said Charles Haley, who came out of retirement for the 49ers in the playoffs. "When he went down, the offense became somewhat one-dimensional."

Anderson eclipsed 100 yards for the third time this season against San Francisco. He carried 29 times for 113 yards, including touchdown runs of 2 and 34 yards that gave the Falcons a 14-0 lead in the first half.