All NFL game summaries for 12/24/1978:

The year of the miracle continued for the Atlanta Falcons as they held on for a 14-13 victory in the first round of NFC playoffs. The Falcons, who won four games in the final 10 seconds during the regular season, were trailing 13-0 with 8:25 left in the game but came back on Steve Bartkowski's two touchdown passes in the final five minutes. Then, with 13 seconds remaining, the Eagles missed a 34-yard field goal to give Atlanta a victory in its first playoff appearance ever.

Bartkowski first connected with Jim Mitchell on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 4:56 left to make the score 13-7 and followed with a 37-yard scoring pass to Wallace Francis with 1:39 left. Ron Jaworski then moved the Eagles into field goal range but Mike Michel's kick sailed wide to the right. Bartkowski finished with 18 completions in 32 attempts for 243 yards. Francis topped the Falcons' receivers with six receptions for 135 yards.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Falcons by 2½

                     PHI             ATL
First Downs:         15              14
Rushes-yards:        32-53           27-75
Yards/rush:          1.7             2.8
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     19-35-190-0     18-32-243-2
Sacked-yards:        3-26            2-20
Net pass yards:      164             223
Net yards/pass:      4.3             6.6
Total net yards:     217             298
Total plays:         70 (45% run)    61 (44% run)  
Yards/play:          3.1             4.9
Fumbles-lost:        3-2             3-3
Turnovers:           2               5
Penalties-yards:     5-60            6-63

Attendance: 49,447

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The Oilers, making their first postseason appearance since 1969, advanced to the divisional playoffs on a brilliant passing performance by Dan Pastorini, who completed 20 of 29 passes for 306 yards and one touchdown. The two AFC wild card teams were locked in a 7-7 tie until midway through the fourth quarter. But Pastorini then completed all four of his passes in a 53-yard drive that set up Toni Fritsch's 35-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead with 7:25 left. One play after the ensuing kickoff, Gregg Bingham intercepted a Bob Griese pass and the Oilers drove 50 yards in 10 plays (9 on the ground) for Earl Campbell's clinching touchdown from the 1 yard line. Griese completed 11 of 28 passes. Campbell, the NFL's leading rusher during the regular season with 1,450 yards, gained 84 yards on 26 carries.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Line: Dolphins by 6½

                     HOU             MIA
First Downs:         23              14
Rushes-yards:        45-165          25-91
Yards/rush:          3.7             3.6
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     20-30-306-0     12-30-137-3
Sacked-yards:        2-16            2-19
Net pass yards:      290             118
Net yards/pass:      9.1             3.7
Total net yards:     455             209
Total plays:         77 (58% run)    57 (43% run)  
Yards/play:          5.9             3.7
Fumbles-lost:        3-1             2-2
Turnovers:           1               5
Penalties-yards:     5-37            1-5

Attendance: 70,036

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