Here are the Falcons’ grades for their 28-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.

GAME BALL: To the Falcons fans who applauded the team as they left the field.  “Yes, we did (hear it),” defensive end Kroy Biermann said. “Atlanta really did a great job for us. We have some great fans. They were loud. They sure did their part. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t come through for them.”

B-plus – Quarterbacks: Matt Ryan completed 30 of 42 pass attempts and set Falcons playoff records against San Francisco with 396 yards and a 114.8 passer rating. He also threw three touchdown passes for the second consecutive game, becoming the first quarterback in team history to throw three or more touchdown passes in consecutive playoff games. Ryan appeared to suffer a shoulder injury on the last drive of the game. The injury may have affected his last two throws as the team came up 10 yards short of the franchise’s second Super Bowl trip. He also had two turnovers.   

C – Running backs: The group did not average 4 yards a carry, which is the standard for a productive day. On 23 carries, the group could only muster 81 yards for a 3.5 average. Jacquizz Rodgers had 32 yards on 10 carries. Turner, who left the game with an ankle injury, had eight carries for 30 yards. Jason Snelling had to strong runs for 12 yards and Mike Cox chipped in with a 4-yard gain.

A -- Wide receivers: Julio Jones had 11 catches for 182 yards and two touchdowns against the 49ers. He broke the franchise record for playoff receiving yards in a game, set by Alfred Jenkins in the 1980 season (155 yards), and tied teammate Roddy White’s team record for receptions in a playoff game. Tight end Tony Gonzalez, who likely played his last game, finished with eight catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. He said he still plans to retire after 16 seasons. The replays appear to show that Roddy White was interfered with. The 49ers’ Donte Whitner and NaVorro Bowman said they knew the play because White rarely lines up in the slot.  

C-plus -- Offensive Line: The unit did a solid job of protecting Matt Ryan, but he threw himself out of a bunch of sacks. Ryan was sacked just once and hit four times. The final and crushing hit by Bowman gave him a left shoulder sprain. There were several plays were Ryan got the ball to the hot receiver to avoid sacks. He clearly needed more time and a firmer pocket. On the final play, Ryan had Tony Gonzalez open in the end zone, but he didn’t have enough time to get it too him and had to settle for his front-side play to Roddy White. The line also has to shoulder some of the blame for the 3.5 rushing yards per carry. The showing was more than solid, but not at a championship level for the entire game.

C -- Defensive line: Over the offseason, coach Mike Smith is going to kick himself for playing John Abraham in the final regular season game. He suffered a needless left ankle sprain and was essentially invisible in two playoff games. He didn’t register a sack or tackle against San Francisco and was basically a shadow on himself. Corey Peters and Jonathan Babineaux were stout with three and four tackles. Peters had the sack and a pass breakup. Vance Walker chipped in with two tackles.

F -- Linebackers: Akeem Dent (eight tackles), Stephen Nicholas (three) and Sean Weatherspoon (five) were solid. Nicholas came up with the fumble recovery on the 1-yard line, but stumbled wildly in pass coverage.

D -- Defensive backs: Colin Kaepernick completed 16 of 21 passes for 233 yards and finished with a 127.7 passer rating. The Falcons struggled with covering tight end Vernon Davis, who finished with five catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. Asante Samuel (four tackles) and Dunta Robinson (five tackles) came up and tackled well. “The tight end was an issue,” Smith said. “They made a number of explosive plays with the tight end. When you go into a game, you have a game plan in place. You put resources to one area. One of our main goals, was to stop the quarterback from running the football. We did not cover the tight end as well as we needed to.”

C -- Special teams: Matt Bryant made his 35-yard attempt. On Matt Bosher’s 48-yard punt, he out-kicked his coverage and Ted Ginn Jr. made the Falcons pay with a 20-yard return. Harry Douglas had three punt returns for six yards. The 49ers had five touchbacks on kickoffs. The units didn’t provide a lift

D -- Coaches: Smith is likely going to regret playing his starters against Tampa Bay. Without a healthy Abraham, the Falcons had to essentially play the playoffs without a pass rush. The coaches had a week to come up with a plan to stop tight end Vernon Davis. They knew the 49ers would look to Davis after they committed to turn Kaepernick into a pocket passer. The defensive scheme was either poorly executed and woefully lacking as it didn’t account for Davis, a former Pro Bowler. The offensive game plan worked to perfection early, but the two turnovers killed their momentum. After leading for 51 minutes, 37 seconds, the Falcons came up 10 yards short of the franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance.

NEXT UP: The offseason.