Matt Ryan and the Falcons left zero doubt.
They dominated from the beginning Sunday, turning the NFC Championship Game into a rout and eventually a 44-21 victory.
Julio Jones feasted on an overmatched Packers defense, catching nine passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He caught a short touchdown pass on the final play of the first half and had a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown early in the third quarter.
Ryan threw for 392 yards and four touchdowns, and he also ran for a touchdown in the first half. The Falcons led by 24 at halftime and were at 400 total yards before the Packers got 130. They led 31-0 before the Packers scored.
The Falcons are headed to their second Super Bowl, their first since the 1998 season. They had missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.
Already down 7-0 after a Ryan pass to Mohamed Sanu, the Packers missed a field goal on their first drive Sunday, and Aaron Ripkowski fumbled inside the Atlanta 10-yard line on their second. By the time the Packers generated offense again Jones had already scored two touchdowns. Ryan had wide open receivers all day, and the Packers just couldn’t keep up in any sense.
The Falcons punted once in the first 57 minutes. Making an awful day worse, three Packers offensive linemen -- Lane Taylor, Bryan Bulaga and T.J. Lang -- left the game with injuries. Defensive tackle Letroy Guion had to play offensive line on the final drive, when quarterback Aaron Rodgers was taken out for his own protection. Rodgers threw for 287 yards, three touchdowns and was intercepted once.
The Falcons finished Sunday’s game with 493 yards of offense, 30 first downs and a six-minute time of possession advantage.