Finally, Baltimore advanced to the Super Bowl by overcoming a 13-7 halftime deficit and then beating the second-seeded New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game 28–13, vindicating the Ravens' loss against New England in the 2011 AFC Championship game, forcing three turnovers total, intercepting two of Tom Brady's passes, and keeping the Patriots scoreless in the second half. By winning the game, the Ravens handed Brady his first (and only) AFC Championship Game loss at home. As the NFC West champion and the number 2 seed in the National Football Conference, San Francisco earned a first-round bye. The 49ers started their playoff run against the number 3 seed Green Bay Packers in the divisional round. Jim Harbaugh's decision to start Kaepernick for the playoffs came into immediate question when he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Sam Shields on their opening drive, but this turned out to be the only miscue he would make for the rest of the game, as well as the only interception he would throw until the Super Bowl. By the end of the game, Kaepernick racked up 444 total yards (more than the entire Packers team), including 181 rushing yards, the NFL single game record for rushing yards by a quarterback, as the 49ers went on to win easily, 45–31. They then faced the top-seeded Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game, where they quickly fell behind 17–0 in the first half. No team in NFC Championship Game history had ever overcome a deficit that large, but the 49ers proved up to the challenge, cutting the score to 24–21 going into the final quarter. Late in the game, their comeback hopes suffered a setback when Crabtree lost a fumble on the 1-yard line as he was going in for the leading score. However, their defense forced a punt, and Ted Ginn Jr.'s 20-yard return set up a touchdown run by Gore. The defense then held firm, forcing a turnover on downs at their 10-yard line to secure the victory. This was the first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXVII ten years prior that did not feature the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, or the Pittsburgh Steelers as the AFC representatives, and the only one as of the 2018 season, including the Denver Broncos, the team that Peyton Manning was brought to in the 2012 season. Baltimore defeated the Colts and Patriots during the playoffs while the Steelers failed to make the playoffs. By contrast, the NFC had a different member go to the Super Bowl almost every year during that same span, with the New York Giants (who won Super Bowls XLII and XLVI) being the only NFC team to make two appearances during that span.