ATLANTA -- Only once before in the Super Bowl era have the Green Bay Packers been shut out in the first half of a playoff game.

And the Atlanta Falcons were the ones to do it.

Make it twice now.

The Packers put up a goose egg in the first half of Sunday's NFC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome and found themselves in a 24-0 hole at halftime. The Packers managed just 127 yards in the first half, and QB Aaron Rodgers was 12-of-17 passing for 119 yards with one interception. The Packers rushed only three times in the first half, the fewest in a postseason game since the Rams in the 1999 NFC wild-card round. The Rams also rushed three times and went on to defeat the Minnesota Vikings 49-37.

On Jan. 4, 2003, the Falcons shut out the Packers in the first half of a playoff game at Lambeau Field -- a game that Atlanta went on to win 27-7 in the wild-card round.

The Packers had two legitimate scoring chances. One was on their first drive, but Mason Crosby missed a 41-yard field goal to end his NFL playoff-record streak of 23 straight makes. The other came in the second quarter, but fullback Aaron Ripkowski fumbled at the Falcons' 11-yard line.

About the only bright spot for the Packers was the return of receiver Jordy Nelson, who caught four passes for 59 yards in the first half just two weeks after he sustained broken ribs in the wild-card win over the New York Giants. Nelson played with a Kevlar vest for protection.

The Packers have overcome one 17-point-plus deficit in the last two seasons -- the Hail Mary game at Detroit in 2015. They're 1-8 in those games the last two years.

The Packers never have been shut out in a playoff game, and they scored in the third quarter to keep that streak alive at 56.