The 1998 NFC Championship Game was played on January 17, 1999, to determine the National Football Conference 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. 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. The game has been remembered for the effect it had on the Vikings players and their fan base, as it is seen by some sportswriters as one of the most devastating losses in NFL history.
About 1998 NFC Championship Game in brief
The 1998 NFC Championship Game was played on January 17, 1999, to determine the National Football Conference 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. 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. The game has been remembered for the effect it had on the Vikings players and their fan base, as it is seen by some sportswriters as one of the most devastating losses in NFL history. The Falcons lost 34–19 to the Denver Broncos two weeks later in Super Bowl XXXIII. Neither the Falcons nor the Vikings would return to the Super Super Bowl until the 2016 NFL season, when the Falcons lost in overtime to the New England Patriots in Super Super LI. In 1998, the Vikings had set the NFL record for most points scored by a team in a single season. They also set an NFL record by scoring 556 points during the season. Although the Vikings were the first franchise to appear in four Super Bowls, they lost each time and become the first Franchise to lose four Superbowls as a result. The NFL Network ranked the Vikings as the second most \”snake-bitten\” franchise of all-time, behind only the Cleveland Browns. The Minnesota Vikings were perennial playoff contenders throughout the 1990s, but they experienced little success once they reached the postseason.
In the first round of the 1998NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings selected wide receiver Randy Moss, who, despite his talent, was passed by several teams, even those in need of a wide receiver, due to concerns surrounding Moss’s misbehavior and multiple arrests during high school and college. That year, Moss set theNFL 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. In his 16-year NFL career, Moss became the first placekicker to play for three different teams in his 16th and final season in the NFL. All of the stars had aligned for the Vikings, and the team had the best team in football at the time of the game. The previous NFL teams to finish the regular season with 15 wins, the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears, had each won the NFC playoffs; the Vikings held the first overall seed in the NFC postseason. The game long stood as the proudest moment in theHistory of the Falcons franchise, but the game has since become the focal point of the loss. Due to its impact on the game’s outcome, Gary Anderson’s missed field goal has since became the focalpoint of the lost. In the 1998 season, Anderson was the first kicker in NFL History to convert every field goal and extra point attempt in a season.
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