Fourth and four yards. One minute and 13 seconds remain. No timeouts left. Everyone in the stadium is watching; hearts in their throats; hands clenched waiting for the do-or-die moment that will determine the Atlanta Falcons’ fate. Heavy hopes lie on the shoulders of Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez. And the pressure is on Matt Ryan to make the perfect pass. Fourth and four more to go. They snap the ball and for a split second the dome falls silent as the ball slips from wide receiver Roddy White’s grasp.

“Everyone was on their feet and praying,” said junior Emily Ferris, who attended the NFC Championship game at the Dome.

Ferris described the atmosphere at that time as desperate yet optimistic.

“Some people had left [during the last few plays of the game] but my section was still crazy,” Ferris said.

The four-point lead the San Francisco 49ers enjoyed during the NFC championship on Jan. 20 proved insurmountable to the Falcons. Until that pivotal moment, Ryan’s mistakes and the 49ers’ missed opportunities canceled each other out, but once the 49er’s running back Frank Gore slipped in the end zone for their final score, Ryan’s slip-ups proved fatal for the Falcons. The final score was 28-24 in the 49ers’ favor.

One game short of the Super Bowl, the Falcons’ playoff fortunes went south after that fourth-down failure, but only one NFL team gets to end its season with a win. The other 31 end with failure. The question is: did the Falcons’ 2012 regular season and playoff run leave the team prepared for a better future? Grady’s Dirty Birds believe the answer is an emphatic yes.

“I think the Falcons will have another good season next year,” senior Alex Munger said. “The only real impact the off-season will have is losing Tony Gonzalez, but other than that all of their core players are in their prime.”

Dejected yet faithful Grady fans remain hopeful for next season and beyond. The Falcons have made it to the playoffs four out of the past five years, and this year they got a much-needed playoff win that legitimized the moves of owner Arthur Blank and general manager Thomas Dimitroff. Some believe next year the Falcons will make it to the Super Bowl. Others share the same hopes as Munger. Scollard is very optimistic about next season.

“We have a solid team,” senior Patrick Scollard said. “Even though we will probably be losing Tony Gonzalez this year, we have a good number of young guys. Matt Ryan will be here for a long time, and he’s still on the uprise. Julio Jones is one of the best receivers in the NFL and he in tandem with Roddy White [make] an awesome duo. I don’t think you could get a better set of wide receivers for next year.”

Many hope that Tony Gonzalez, who is considered one of the top tight-ends in NFL history, will stay with the Falcons despite Gonzalez’s statement that he is 95 percent sure of retirement. The Falcons will maintain the highly respected trio of Jones, White and Harry Douglas, who are highly ranked offensive players, as well as most of the unheralded yet effective defensive unit.

Despite the upset for many fans at the end to a successful season, Grady Dirty Birds say they will still rise up for coming seasons. “Before [the Falcons] were just a wishy-washy team,” Scollard said. “But after the playoff, the Falcons have proved that we are good enough.”