The Falcons have been focused on the 4:15 p.m. regular season finale with the Tampa Bay Bucs all week, but there were plenty of things out of their hands well before kickoff.
Coming into Sunday's 1 p.m. games, the Falcons needed Detroit to lose to a Green Bay team that was sitting Aaron Rodgers for rest in order to have a chance at the No. 5 seed.
Well, Packers backup QB Matt Flynn came through with a 45-41 win over the Lions.
The Falcons' 45-24 win over Tampa Bay ensures that they'll hold the No. 5 seed in the playoffs and play the No. 4 seed — which will be the winner of tonight's Dallas-New York Giants game.
Here are the wild-card matchups for next weekend:
NFC
No. 5 Atlanta Falcons (10-6) at Cowboys-Giants winner
No. 6 Detroit Lions (10-6) at No. 3 New Orleans Saints (13-3)
AFC
No. 6 Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) at No. 3 Houston Texans (10-6)
No. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) at No. 4 Denver Broncos (8-8)
