1998 NFC Championship Game
The 1998 NFC Championship Game was the 29th title game of the National Football Conference (NFC). This National Football League (NFL) playoff game was played on January 17, 1999, to determine the NFC champion for the 1998 NFL season. The visiting Atlanta Falcons defeated the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings 30–27 in sudden death overtime to win their first conference championship and advance to the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance. As a result of their loss, the Vikings were eliminated from the playoffs and became the first team in the history of the NFL to compile a regular season record of 15–1 and not win the Super Bowl.
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the site of the game
Atlanta Falcons placekicker Morten Andersen, pictured here in 2010, kicked the game winning field goal in overtime to lift the Falcons over the Vikings in the 1998 NFC Championship game.
1998 Minnesota Vikings season
The 1998 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 38th in the National Football League (NFL). The Vikings became the third team in NFL history to win 15 games during the regular season, which earned them the National Football Conference (NFC) Central division championship and the first overall seed in the NFC playoffs. The team entered the playoffs as the favorite to win Super Bowl XXXIII, but their season ended when they were upset by the Atlanta Falcons 30–27 in the 1998 NFC Championship Game.
Ten Vikings (not all pictured) were named to the 1999 Pro Bowl.