ATLANTA — A 99-yard play famously propelled the Giants to a Super Bowl victory five years ago.

The Falcons are hoping a 99-yard drive can end up doing the same thing for them.

It certainly put a dagger in the heart of the Seahawks on Saturday when Matt Ryan and the seemingly unstoppable Atlanta offense put together a nine-play, 99-yard drive just before halftime to get the Falcons off and running to a 36-20 NFC divisional playoff victory at the Georgia Dome.

If Ryan and the Falcons somehow put their history of postseason failure behind them and go on to win a Lombardi Trophy in Houston next month, Saturday’s 99-yard masterpiece will be a turning point.

“A drive like that demoralizes teams, and it also showed that we can’t be stopped even when you’ve got us backed up all the way to our goal line,” Falcons wide receiver Taylor Gabriel said after Atlanta’s first playoff win since 2012. “That was big.”

Ryan was big overall, completing 26 of 37 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, but the 99-yard drive that sent the Falcons to their 19-10 lead was his masterpiece.

Both the 2011 Giants and 2011 Jets could relate, considering Victor Cruz’s 99-yard TD catch and run in a Week 16 matchup sent the Giants to a 29-14 victory and an eventual run to their fourth Super Bowl title while knocking the Jets out of playoff contention.

The Falcons were just as giddy about the potential of their own 99-yard moment Saturday to provide momentum — and send a message to their opponents.

Not only did the drive show that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is fearless (Atlanta came out in a spread formation from its own 1), but it also proved the Falcons’ attack is unpredictable and can overwhelm you in a frightening variety of ways.

As good as Ryan has been all season — and he indeed is worthy of his apparent NFL MVP front-runner status — the Falcons’ offensive success was built on the fearsome, two-headed running attack of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

But if the Seahawks were thinking Atlanta would get conservative and run the ball in that situation, especially nursing a 12-10 lead with nearly four minutes left in the half, Shanahan gleefully crossed them up.

How? All nine plays on the drive were pass plays. That doesn’t happen often when the distance is 99 yards and the possession is more than a couple of snaps.

Even Ryan, the architect of the masterpiece, was surprised to be told of that fact afterward.

“I had no idea,” said Ryan, who was 7-for-9 on the drive and so sharp the Falcons didn’t face a third down. “I thought we ran the ball a little bit. That’s a cool stat, though. Ninety-nine yards of passing right there. You don’t see that very often on one drive.”

Ryan started the drive with an 8-yard completion to his favorite target, Julio Jones, but proceeded to connect with three other receivers — spreading it out like the Falcons have done so masterfully all season.

By the time Ryan connected with Coleman for 14 yards and the drive-capping TD, Atlanta had gone almost the entire length of the field in just 2:55 and left the Seahawks with just 48 seconds to work with and suddenly staring at a nine-point deficit.

Game essentially over.

Game now on for the Falcons?

“It would be great if that drive ends up being the spark for bigger and better things,” Ryan said. “We’ll see. For today, though, it was just a lot of fun.”