49ers Rally to Super Bowl, and Even Harbaugh Smiles

Dave Martin/Associated Press

ATLANTA — If Tom Coughlin’s excessively ruddy complexion in cold weather makes him the king of crimson cheeks among N.F.L. coaches, then San Francisco’s Jim Harbaugh is undoubtedly the sultan of sideline sourpusses.

Harbaugh fumes and flails. He sighs and suffers. He bolts his feet to the ground as if he were wearing concrete shoes, then twists his upper body in unimaginable ways. The entire routine makes for an entertaining if somewhat painful sideshow to watch. 

 

In Sunday’s 28-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the N.F.C. championship game, Harbaugh displayed every bit of his substantial repertory. He frowned, several times, when the 49ers fell behind by 17 points early. He combined a hangdog head shake with a sort of disappointed-teacher expression when kicker David Akers bounced a field-goal attempt off the left upright. And he grimaced, then threw a temper tantrum that would have made a toddler proud, when the officials ruled that Atlanta receiver Harry Douglas had, in fact, maintained control of a disputed catch late in the fourth quarter. 

After all of that, however — and after a last-second Atlanta pass came up short — Harbaugh allowed himself something close to a novelty: a smile. 

It was well deserved. One year after falling a game short of the Super Bowl with a brutal loss to Coughlin and the Giants, Harbaugh and the 49ers did not stumble again with the most meaningful prize in sight. They will play for the Vince Lombardi Trophy this time after rallying to beat the Falcons, and will face the Baltimore Ravens, coached by Harbaugh’s brother, John, in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 in New Orleans.

“It’s been a long time,” said running back Frank Gore, who has played his entire career with the 49ers since being drafted in 2005. Gore shook his head, then exhaled loudly. “We came a long, long way.” 

As the 49ers players poured onto the field after the game’s final play, two distinct crowds formed: one around the neophyte quarterback Colin Kaepernick and another around the veteran defensive end Justin Smith. 

The centerpieces were fitting. Kaepernick, in the ninth start of his career, was sensational in rallying the 49ers from an early deficit, and Smith, playing with a badly injured arm, led a unit that did not allow any points in the second half. With the 49ers leading by 4 points with about two minutes to play, the defense staged its final stand as the Falcons tried to score the winning touchdown from the 10. Twice Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan dropped back to pass, and twice the ball fell incomplete as the 49ers’ sideline erupted. 

“Tears started to fall, but I zipped them right up,” tight end Vernon Davis said of his reaction. “I said, ‘I’ll save the tears for the Super Bowl.’ ” 

San Francisco’s stout defensive performance would have been meaningless if not for their wiry quarterback. Kaepernick, who was given the starting job by Harbaugh in Week 11 of this season, continued his rapid ascent to stardom, completing 16 of 21 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown. He did not throw an interception, did not lose a fumble and made audible calls with aplomb, even as the crowd noise in the Georgia Dome reached the level of a jet engine. 

He showed the poise of a veteran and yet Kaepernick — at 25, with only three N.F.L. completions before this season on his résumé — is by any measure still young. No matter, the 49ers say; they will take their chances with him, especially after he pulled off the biggest comeback in N.F.C. title game history, according to Stats L.L.C. 

Asked if the victory validates his decision to start Kaepernick ahead of the veteran Alex Smith, Harbaugh hesitated. “It validates our team,” he said. 

Harbaugh, too, was quick to say that it was not only Kaepernick who ignited the 49ers offense. Davis caught five passes for 106 yards, and Gore rushed for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 9-yard surge to give San Francisco its first lead of the game with a little more than eight minutes to play. In contrast to last week, when Atlanta lost a big lead but recovered in time to beat Seattle, quarterback Matt Ryan could not summon the requisite last-minute dramatics.

Dave Martin/Associated Press

Colin Kaepernick (7) celebrated with linemen Leonard Davis and Daniel Kilgore after the 49ers earned a trip to New Orleans and the Super Bowl.

That reality left the Falcons, who were the top seed in the N.F.C., ruing another disappointing finish to a season. Atlanta got over one hump last week, winning its first playoff game in four chances under Coach Mike Smith, but failed to reach its first Super Bowl since the 1998 season.

Ryan finished the game 30 of 42 passing for 396 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he also threw an interception and lost a fumble that cut short critical drives in the second half. Julio Jones recorded 182 receiving yards, Roddy White had 100 and Tony Gonzalez tallied 78 as the Falcons moved the ball at will for much of the game but stalled when it mattered most. 

“In a nutshell, we just didn’t make enough plays to win the ballgame,” Mike Smith said. “We will bounce back. We just don’t feel real good right now.” 

For all its scoring, the game was a strange one. There was a read-option quarterback — Kaepernick — who hardly ran the read-option, finishing with two carries for 21 yards. There was spotty defense for much of the game, but several moments of sheer brilliance, as when Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson jarred the ball loose from Michael Crabtree inches from the goal line. There was Akers’s field-goal attempt that doinked off the left upright. And there was, in the end, a team that once trailed by 17 points looking like the far superior outfit. 

There was also an odd sense of the familiar at the start. After sprinting to an early lead, blowing it, then coming back to beat Seattle in the final seconds of their divisional-round victory, the Falcons managed to re-create that entire game in the first half Sunday. Yet again they blasted the opponent in the opening quarter, sending the fans into frequent celebrations as the Atlanta offense whizzed up and down the field, with Jones doing much of the damage. He caught two touchdown passes in the game’s first 16 minutes, rocking the 49ers’ players and coaches. 

Dominant as the Falcons were, however — and at one point, the Falcons had recorded 202 total yards to San Francisco’s minus 2 — it was hard to envision the 49ers fading away. After seeing Seattle bounce back against Atlanta, the San Francisco players knew they could counterpunch; it was simply a matter of finding the right approach. 

By midway through the second quarter, the 49ers’ strategy was clear: with Atlanta focusing much of its energy on containing Kaepernick’s running, there were openings for Gore and in the passing game. The tight end was an obvious area to exploit, and Davis said he had watched the Seahawks-Falcons game three times in two days because he was so excited by what Seattle tight end Zach Miller was able to accomplish. 

The plan worked. Davis caught a 4-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter, Gore ripped off his two touchdown runs in the second half and the defense stiffened at the right time. The fans filed out sullenly and the 49ers celebrated. Now, Harbaugh will have a chance to deliver the 49ers a sixth Super Bowl title, a gaudy total that would tie Pittsburgh for the most in league history. 

“It feels pretty darn good,” Harbaugh said before flashing a hint — just a hint — of a grin.