NEW YORK, 17 January 2005 — Warrick Dunn rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns to help the Atlanta Falcons crush the St. Louis Rams 47-17 in the divisional playoffs Saturday.
The hosts Falcons rushed for 327 yards against the porous Rams defense, more than eight yards per carry, to become only the fourth team in history to rush for more than 300 yards in a playoff game.
Atlanta QB Michael Vick ran for 119 yards on eight carries. He went 12-for-16 for 82 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense on numerous long drives.
The Falcons advance to the NFC championship game next week against the Minnesota Vikings at home or the Philadelphia Eagles on the road.
“The running game was big,” Vick said. “We’re very happy to be going on to next week’s game.
“We know (running) is the best part of our team and if we play our game, we can’t be stopped.”
It did not take long for the Falcons to open the scoring, Vick hitting Alge Crumpler with an 18-yard TD strike after 2:50.
The Rams answered back on their next possession as Kevin Curtis hauled in a 57-yard TD pass from Marc Bulger to tie the score at 7-7.
Atlanta again went in front on a 62-yard touchdown run by Dunn, taking a 14-7 lead before the game was seven minutes old.
Dunn scored his second touchdown on a 19-yard run in the second quarter and Allen Rossum returned a punt 68 yards for another Atlanta first-half score.
Tommy Holt caught a 28-yard TD pass from Bulger in the second quarter and Jeff Wilkins kicked a 55-yard field goal for the Rams with two seconds left as Atlanta led 28-17 at the half.
Peerless Price took a six-yard pass from Vick for another TD early in the third quarter before Jay Feeley added a 38-yard field goal to make it 38-17.
Bulger was sacked in the end zone for a safety in the fourth quarter and TJ Duckett scored on a four-yard run to cap a late scoring drive which added to the woes of the Rams.
Quarterback Bulger went 23-for-35 for 303 yards and two TD passes for St Louis.
It was a season-high points total for the Falcons (11-5 in the regular season) and also the most points allowed by the Rams (8-8) during the campaign.
