Tony Gonzalez in the Falcons' locker room after the loss to San Francisco. (@HubbuchNYP)It may get lost in the shuffle a bit if the Baltimore Ravens lose the AFC title game to the New England Patriots and Ray Lewis officially retires as well, but we may have just seen the final game for the greatest tight end in NFL history. When the Atlanta Falcons lost the NFC championship game to the San Francisco 49ers by a 28-24 score after holding a 17-0 lead, it brought the question once again to light: Will Tony Gonzalez retire as he has intimated for most of the season?

“It’s probably the last time I’m going to wear that uniform,” an emotional Gonzalez told the team's official site. “I didn’t want to take it off, to tell you the truth. All good things come to an end and, like I said all season long, this is probably my last one. What an unbelievable ride.”

After 16 seasons, over 250 games, and every meaningful record that could possibly be held at his position, it seems that "Gonzo" might hang 'em up, and almost certainly would have done so had the Falcons won the Super Bowl.

“I spoke to [Michael] Strahan about it," Gonzalez said on Thursday about the future Hall-of-Famer, who quit the game after his New York Giants took Super Bowl XLII in a major upset of the New England Patriots. "He said that’s the way you want to do it. That’s every athlete's dream. Any professional athlete out there, it doesn’t matter what sport it is, you would love to win a championship and leave. That’s where I’m at. I know I could still play this game. There is no doubt about it. I can play this game for another three years if I wanted to at a high level.

"There comes a point in your career that I’ve gotten everything that I’ve ever wanted from this game. The only reason I’ve been playing the last couple of years, to tell you the truth, is for an opportunity like this. Now that it’s presented, I feel some closure coming in. I still have some more closure to take care of, though, and that’s obviously winning this weekend and winning if we get to the Super Bowl.”

Most don't want Gonzalez to retire, and for multiple reasons. First of all, the longtime vegan and total health nut hasn't lost a step -- or, if he has, he has become even better at the little things veteran receivers need to learn. Perhaps no NFL player makes more meaningful contested catches in short-yardage situations, and his 2012 numbers -- 93 catches for 930 yards and eight touchdowns -- indicate that he's got as much in the tank as he ever has. The Falcons, as loaded as they are at the skill positions, desperately need the veteran's acumen -- on and off the field. And fans of the game would most definitely miss watching one of the best and classiest people in the league do it the right way.

After the loss to the 49ers, Falcons head coach Mike Smith was looking for all kinds of answers -- he certainly didn't have any regarding Gonzalez's future.

"There are a lot of guys in that locker room who don't feel good right now, but for Tony, it could be the last time he plays," Smith told Fox Sports' Pam Oliver. "The impact he's had on our football team is immeasurable -- not just on the offensive side, but on the defensive side. He's a great player and a super person, and I'm just glad I've had an opportunity to work with him. I've learned a lot from Tony Gonzalez, just watching him and spending time with him."

I got a bit more awareness of Gonzalez's influence on the people who coach him when I attended the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl media conference last Friday. Herm Edwards and Dick Vermeil were the coaches, and both men coached Gonzalez when he was with the Kansas City Chiefs; Vermeil from 2001 through 2005, and Edwards from 2006 through 2008. Both men told me unequivocally that Gonzalez was not only the best player they had coached, but a real favorite from a personal perspective. When I asked Vermeil how happy he was to see Gonzalez finally win a playoff game, the beaming smile said it all.

That's going to ruin your makeup, Ray.

During the national anthem before the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots faced off in the AFC championship, Baltimore's Ray Lewis got very, very emotional. Dancing back and forth while making this face kind of emotional.

Perhaps he realizes that, even if the Ravens win and go to the Super Bowl, he has very little time left in his football career since he announced he's retiring at the end of the season. Perhaps someone is cutting onions near the Baltimore Bench. Perhaps he watched "Old Yeller" before the game, and is still affected by the ending. Perhaps -- just perhaps -- he was performing for the CBS cameras that were so closely focused on his face.

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Matt Ryan and the Falcons' passing offense had a great Sunday against the 49ers, but when Atlanta needed 4 yards, San Francisco didn't let receiver Roddy White have an inch of open space.

The moment of truth in the NFC championship game came with 1:13 left. The Falcons trailed 28-24 and had fourth-and-4 at San Francisco's 10.

White lined up tight to the line and tried to run a slant, where he was met by linebacker NaVorro Bowman.

Bowman didn't let him loose.

[Also: 73 players granted special eligibility for 2013 NFL Draft]

San Francisco has reason to celebrate. (Getty Images)

ATLANTA – Defense doesn’t win championships anymore. As the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers demonstrated conclusively in the NFC championship game on Sunday, defense is now flat-out optional for championships.

This wasn’t a football game. This was practice-squad target practice, with two of the NFC’s best quarterbacks locating whichever receiver they wanted, and those receivers carving out enough space in the secondary to build homes, swimming pools included.

[Also: 73 players granted special eligibility for 2013 NFL Draft]

Although Atlanta started hot, it became clear that this was going to be a game of whoever blinks, loses. And in the end, it was the Falcons, not the 49ers, who frayed under the playoff pressure.

Atlanta took the opening drive 80 yards, culminating with a 46-yard pass from Matt Ryan to a wide-open Julio Jones. Another Jones touchdown and a field goal by last week’s hero Matt Bryant, and boom, Atlanta was up 17-0.

But this is Atlanta, only seven days

Watch Harry Douglas' fourth-quarter catch a dozen times and you might change your opinion on the call each time.

Catch? Not a catch? Depending who you are rooting for, the answer might be different.

Well, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh had his answer. And when the play was ruled a catch, Harbaugh went nuts.

[Also: Florio: Where will Alex Smith land next season?]

The officials came back with the ruling that Douglas made the catch. Harbaugh went crazy, doubling over in disbelief and then flipping his headset away.

Harbaugh got the last laugh when his 49ers ended up winning the NFC Championship Game, but his reaction will go down as one of the funnier reactions to a call you'll see.

David Akers hasn't had a great season. The San Francisco 49ers kicker has struggled, and that didn't change when his team was down by three to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship, a game that San Francisco went on to win 28-24.

In the third quarter, David Akers missed a 38-yard field goal that would have tied the game. The ball hit off the top of the left field goal with a thunk that signaled Akers' futility on the kick. Atlanta's fans went crazy, Jim Harbaugh made a sad face, and the 49ers remained down by three.

But Fox's cameras showed that the miss may have been spurned on by an old teammate of Akers. Asante Samuel, a cornerback for the Falcons, was shown jawing at Akers before the kick. The two were teammates on the Philadelphia Eagles, when Akers was a much more effective kicker.

For the 2012 season, Akers' field goal percentage is just 69 percent. In the previous four seasons, it hovered in the low-to-mid eighties. The 49ers even brought in Billy Cundiff for a few weeks

(Getty Images)

For the second straight week, the Atlanta Falcons have blown a considerable playoff lead. Now, we'll see if they can do what they did against the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday. After going up 20-0 at the half, the Falcons allowed Seattle to storm back in the divisional round before ultimately losing, 30-28, on Matt Bryant's last-second field goal. Against the 49ers in the conference championship, the Falcons had a 17-0 lead before LaMichael James started the San Francisco scoring process with a 15-yard touchdown run with 8:14 left in the first half.

With 8:27 left in the game, Frank Gore went into the end zone to put the 49ers up, 28-24, finishing a 4-1 touchdown run in San Francisco's favor. The Falcons could be even more in the hole after two Atlanta turnovers, but the 49ers couldn't take advantage. Matt Ryan threw a pick to Chris Culliver with 7:46 left in the third quarter, but kicker David Akers missed a 38-yard field goal on the subsequent drive. Next time the Falcons got the ball, Ryan fumbled, and defensive end Aldon Smith recovered. The 49ers drove the ball down from their own 37-yard line, but Colin Kaepernick threw to receiver Michael Crabtree from the Atlanta five-yard line, and Crabtree fumbled the ball from inside the one-yard line.

If the Falcons can't overcome this second-half collapse, the questions will come thick and fast for head coach Mike Smith and the entire Atlanta team.

ATLANTA - Julio Jones played about as flawless a quarter of football as you can possibly play to start off the NFC championship game. The Falcons' receiver caught five passes for 100 yards and a touchdown (and another on the first play of the second quarter). The game would balance out, of course.

Jones' one miss that quarter was on a dive out of bounds; on that play, though, he smacked straight into an oblivious Georgia Dome guard. It was a scary moment, as the guard lay motionless on the ground for several minutes. But while the broadcast was away at commercial, the guard got to his feet and walked under his own power.

Football sidelines are crowded places; there aren't many places for players to run without taking out someone. New Orleans coach Sean Payton got hit in 2011 and suffered torn knee ligaments, and both Joe Paterno and Charlie Weis suffered serious injury when hit on the sideline. “With the media now, there’s people on both sides of the 30, and there’s no room for