1998 NFC Championship Game

Minnesota Vikings Entering the 1998 season, the Minnesota Vikings had accumulated a history of disappointing losses despite their elite level of play. Although they were the first NFL franchise to play in four Super Bowls, they also became the first to lose four Super Bowls after their final appearance in Super Bowl XI. In other seasons, they had come within seconds of winning playoff games only to lose in dramatic fashion. During a 1975 Divisional round playoff game, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson that Vikings fans, media personalities, and former players claim should have been nullified by offensive pass interference. Twelve years later, the Vikings lost to the Washington Redskins in the 1987 NFC Championship Game after running back Darrin Nelson dropped a game-tying touchdown pass on fourth down in the game's final minute. This history of misfortune led the NFL Network to rank the Vikings as the second most "snake-bitten" franchise of all-time, behind only the Cleveland Browns for their playoff losses in the late 1980s. Under head coach Dennis Green, the Vikings were perennial playoff contenders throughout the 1990s, but they experienced little success once they reached the postseason. Moss used this as motivation to make teams who passed on him regret their decision. That year, Moss set the NFL record for most touchdown receptions by a rookie with 17, and combined with future Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter and quarterback Randall Cunningham, he formed the centerpiece of the Vikings' offensive attack, which also set an NFL record by scoring 556 points during the season. The Vikings finished the regular season with a record of 15–1 and held the first overall seed in the NFC playoffs; the two previous NFL teams to finish the regular season with 15 wins, the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the 1985 Chicago Bears, had each won the Super Bowl. Former player turned analyst Brian Baldinger claimed that "They were easily the best team in football," He finished the regular season 35/35 on field goals, with a long of 53 yards, and 59/59 on extra points. He also converted every field goal and extra point attempt in a Divisional playoff round victory against the Arizona Cardinals the week before the NFC Championship. Entering the NFC Championship Game, his last miss was on December 15, 1997, against the Denver Broncos, when he was a member of the San Francisco 49ers. as the Falcons had failed to reach the playoffs the previous two seasons and only made the playoffs twice in the previous fifteen seasons. However, head coach Dan Reeves, who was hired before the previous season, had overhauled the roster in an attempt to reverse the team's fortunes. Thirty-eight of the fifty-three players on the 1998 Falcons team had been brought in by Reeves over the previous year, Running back Jamal Anderson also posted a career-high 1,846 rushing yards, which led the NFC that year, and the defense finished fourth overall in points allowed. As a result, the Falcons won the NFC West with a record of 14–2 and clinched the second overall seed in the NFC playoffs, behind only the Vikings. The team was nicknamed the "Dirty Birds" After experiencing chest pains following the team's 27–17 victory over the New Orleans Saints on December 13, Reeves underwent quadruple bypass surgery. The team was coached by defensive coordinator Rich Brooks for the final two regular season games. and were installed as 11-point favorites for the Championship Game. ==Game summary==

The Falcons won the coin toss before the game and elected to receive the opening kickoff. They drove down the field and scored first on a five-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Anderson. On the next drive, the Vikings answered the score with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Cunningham to Randy Moss, tying the game at 7. Neither team scored in the remainder of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Gary Anderson kicked a field goal after the Vikings recovered a Falcons fumble to make the score 10–7. After forcing the Falcons to punt on the next drive, the Vikings scored another touchdown on a one-yard run by Cunningham, increasing the lead to 17–7 with five minutes remaining in the first half. The Falcons then lost another fumble, which gave possession back to the Vikings. On the ensuing drive, Moss dropped what would have been a touchdown pass in the end zone, leaving Gary Anderson to kick another field goal to make the score 20–7. After forcing another Falcons punt, the Vikings attempted to increase their lead before halftime, but Falcons lineman Chuck Smith forced a fumble on Cunningham, and the Falcons recovered the ball deep in Vikings territory. The Falcons subsequently scored on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Chris Chandler to Terance Mathis to cut their deficit to 20–14 by the end of the half. Because the game was played indoors at the Metrodome, there were no adverse weather conditions that might have affected the kick. End of regulation and overtime , 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. The Falcons took possession of the football at their own 29-yard line and quickly drove down the field. With just over a minute left in the game, Vikings safety Robert Griffith dropped an interception off a deflected pass, which would have also almost certainly clinched victory. Instead, Chandler threw a touchdown pass to Mathis on the next play, tying the game 27–27 with 49 seconds remaining in regulation. On the ensuing possession, the Vikings managed only seven yards and then kneeled on third down, which ran out the clock and forced overtime. Under the NFL overtime rules then in force, the first team to score in the overtime period would win. The Vikings won the coin toss and started overtime with possession of the football on their own 29-yard line, but managed to convert only one first down and punted to Atlanta. The Falcons drove to their own 41-yard line before being stopped on 3rd down, and they punted the ball back to Vikings. On the ensuing drive, Cunningham attempted a deep pass to Moss that was narrowly broken up by Eugene Robinson; had the pass been completed, it most likely would have resulted in a touchdown and victory for the Vikings. Instead, the Vikings had to punt on 4th down again. The Falcons then drove to the Vikings' 21-yard line, where Morten Andersen converted a 38-yard field goal for the win. ==Aftermath==

Player reactions After the game, Gary Anderson was described as "inconsolable". Although the Vikings still led by seven points at the time, his missed kick had a demoralizing effect on the team. ESPN contributor Ben Goessling noted "how swiftly it pulled the bottom out from under a team that had an air of inevitability about it to that point." Carter openly wept in the locker room after the game and was affected so badly by the loss that he considered retirement. "Walking off that field and losing like that," Carter reflected, "I didn't even know if I wanted to play football anymore. Because I just, I felt like that I would never win after that." He went on to call the game, "The most devastating loss that I've ever been a part of." Both Carter and fellow Hall of Fame member Randle believed that the 1998 Vikings team was their best chance at winning a Super Bowl; Randle described the feeling after the game as, "It's like driving down a street and getting every green light for the next ten miles, and you're just cruising along, and it's just smooth. And all of a sudden, you're getting there, you're almost there, and all of a sudden, the fucking light turns red, and you get sideswiped." Randle further laments the loss due to the background of many of his teammates, whom he described as "misfits, guys who just got their second chance." Beyond Moss's legal troubles, Carter had been released by the Philadelphia Eagles early in his career for substance abuse issues, and Cunningham was released by the Eagles and remained unsigned to a team two seasons prior. Randle himself was considered undersized coming out of college and was not heavily pursued by NFL teams. Falcons defensive end Chuck Smith questioned the Vikings' toughness because of the ease with which they had won during the season. "It's one thing to beat up on people," said Smith, "but how do you react when someone's finally hitting you back? We've been slugging it out all year." NBC Sports, and the NFL Network In a 2018 retrospective, Sports Illustrated called the 1998 Vikings "The Greatest Team Never to Make It". The loss had a dramatic effect on Minnesota sports culture, as the 1998 Vikings were considered the team most likely to deliver a championship to a franchise that had already suffered multiple heartbreaking defeats. and NFL Films. Gary Anderson's missed kick has been singled out as the main contributing factor to the Vikings' loss, as the Falcons were able to capitalize on the late shift in momentum produced by an unexpected opportunity to tie and eventually win the game. Considering this impact on the game's outcome and the historic performances of Anderson and the 1998 Vikings team, the miss has since been noted as a memorable moment in the greater history of the NFL. Buchanan, who was attempting to block Anderson's kick, believes that Anderson would not have been able to convert the field goal regardless, since if the kick was on target, it would have "hit [Buchanan] in the face mask." have defended Anderson, pointing out that the Vikings' defense deserved the real blame for the loss for allowing Atlanta to tie the game after Anderson's miss. Barreiro also criticized the performance of Vikings starting quarterback Cunningham, who he felt did not handle the pressure of the game well and called "dreadful down the stretch". Vikings head coach Dennis Green was criticized for his decision to kneel on 3rd down and play for overtime instead of attempting to score before the end of regulation. Radio host Bob Sansevere, author of The Best Minnesota Sports Arguments, called it "one of the all-time boneheaded decisions a coach has ever made in any sport". Of Green's play call, Peter King of Sports Illustrated wrote, "Minnesota coach Dennis Green did a great job this year, but if he doesn't wake up and stare at the ceiling in the next few days and say out loud: 'Boy, I screwed that one up,' then he's not being honest with himself." Nonetheless, local Minneapolis newspaper Star Tribune has contended that taking a knee was the correct decision due to the performance of the Vikings' offense, whose struggles that day were also noted by Carter. and Falcons linebacker Jessie Tuggle agreed: "Dan has really inspired us all. ... He walked in the meeting room four days after having had surgery, and you could have heard a pin drop. We wanted to hear every last word he had to say." Reeves described his time during the season as "more rewarding than any other teams I've been involved in", and to Falcons special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, Reeves' leadership that season was "his best coaching job ever". CBS called Reeves' return "an amazing comeback that people will be talking about for years". Chandler was considered to be the offensive hero of the game, despite the attention that the Vikings' offense received during the season. Media analysis before the game noted that the Vikings' defense needed to focus on shutting down Falcons running back Jamal Anderson; feeling overlooked, Chandler used the coverage as extra motivation. and the network also voted Morton Andersen's game-winning field goal as the top play in Falcons' history. Super Bowl XXXIII In the hours before the AFC Championship Game, the Denver Broncos were watching the NFC Championship Game on the JumboTron at Mile High Stadium to see who they would play in Super Bowl XXXIII should they defeat the New York Jets. Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan expressed surprise at Anderson's missed kick, and running back Terrell Davis said that the Falcons' subsequent victory put the Broncos in the mindset that they had "won the Super Bowl already," as their greatest potential challenge had been eliminated. This distraction nearly cost the Broncos, as they played a poor game. Tim Connolly, the Vikings team president at the time, recalled that Shanahan insinuated relief that the Broncos were not playing the Vikings when the two met at a reception after the conference championship games. The Falcons lost Super Bowl XXXIII by a score of 34–19, which earned the Broncos their second consecutive Super Bowl victory. The game was anticipated as a match up between the Vikings and the Broncos, and the Falcons' presence in the game was noted as an anticlimax. The night before the game, safety Eugene Robinson was arrested for soliciting a prostitute. Although Robinson played in the game, the distraction contributed to a poor performance by the Falcons team, who managed only six points in six drives deep into Denver territory and surrendered a season-high point total. ==Statistics==

Box score Statistical comparison Per Pro Football Reference: Individual leaders Per Pro Football Reference: 1Completions/attempts 2Carries 3Long gain 4Receptions 5Times targeted ==Personnel==

Starting lineups As credited during the Fox Sports broadcast of the 1998 NFC Championship game: Officials As credited during the Fox Sports broadcast of the 1998 NFC Championship game: • Referee: Walt Coleman (#65) • Umpire: Ron Botchan (#110) • Head linesman: Mark Baltz (#26) • Line judge: Byron Boston (#18) • Field judge: Bill Lovett (#98) • Side judge: Neely Dunn (#89) • Back judge: Billy Smith (#2) ==See also==