NFL game summary 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):

	Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
OFFENSE	153.5 (7)	137.3 (21)	290.8 (18)	38
DEFENSE	116.4 (5)	173.3 (22)	289.7 (11)	48
OFFENSE	103.8 (27)	150.1 (16)	253.9 (26)	41
DEFENSE	129.2 (8)	147.8 (9)	276.9 (5)	37

Line: Falcons by 2½

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Philadelphia Eagles (9-8-0)	6	0	7	0	13
Atlanta Falcons (10-7-0)	0	0	0	14	14

( 6- 0) PHI Harold Carmichael 13 yard pass from Ron Jaworski (kick failed)
(13- 0) PHI Wilbert Montgomery 1 yard rush (Mike Michel kick)
(13- 7) ATL Jim Mitchell 20 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Tim Mazzetti kick)
(13-14) ATL Wallace Francis 37 yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Tim Mazzetti kick)

                     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

Passing:
PHI: Ron Jaworski, 19 of 35 for 190 yards and 1 TD ATL: Steve Bartkowski, 18 of 32 for 243 yards and 2 TDs (2 int)
Rushing:
PHI: Wilbert Montgomery, 16 for 19 yards and 1 TD; Mike Hogan, 14 for 31 yards; Ron Jaworski, 1 for 3 yards; Billy Campfield, 1 for 0 yards ATL: Haskel Stanback, 16 for 58 yards; Bubba Bean, 9 for 14 yards; Steve Bartkowski, 2 for 3 yards
Receiving:
PHI: Charlie Smith, 7 for 108 yards; Harold Carmichael, 5 for 45 yards and 1 TD; Richard Osborne, 3 for 15 yards; Oren Middlebrook, 1 for 11 yards; Ken Payne, 1 for 10 yards; Mike Hogan, 1 for 6 yards; Wilbert Montgomery, 1 for -5 yards ATL: Wallace Francis, 6 for 135 yards and 1 TD; Bubba Bean, 4 for 44 yards; Jim Mitchell, 3 for 35 yards and 1 TD; Haskel Stanback, 2 for 7 yards; Dennis Pearson, 1 for 13 yards; Billy Ryckman, 1 for 5 yards; Alfred Jackson, 1 for 4 yards
Kick returns:
PHI: Louie Giammona, 3 for 72 yards ATL: Dennis Pearson, 2 for 48 yards; George Franklin, 1 for 21 yards
Punt returns:
PHI: John Sciarra, 3 for 27 yards ATL: Billy Ryckman, 5 for 14 yards
Interceptions:
PHI: Bob Howard, 1 for 29 yards; Herman Edwards, 1 for 19 yards
Punting:
PHI: Mike Michel, 9 for 303 yards ATL: John James, 7 for 232 yards
Field Goals:
PHI: Mike Michel, 0/2 ATL: Tim Mazzetti, 0/1