NFC Championship, 1987: Washington 17 Minnesota 10

Game information
In a defensive battle, the Redskins played a little better by limiting the Vikings to only 76 rushing yards and piling up eight sacks among seven different players (Dave Butz, Kurt Gouveia, Ravin Caldwell, Dexter Manley, Charles Mann, Alvin Walton, and Clarence Vaughn). The Vikings string of playoff upsets came to an end in a game that proved to be just as hard fought and intense as Washington's 27–24 overtime victory over them in Week 16 of the regular season.

Minnesota started off with a drive to the Redskins 35, but decided to punt rather than risk a long field goal. Bucky Scribner's 33-yard punt pinned the Redskins back at their own 2-yard line, but it didn't stop them from scoring on a 98-yard drive that included a 28-yard run by receiver Ricky Sanders on a reverse play and ended with running back Kelvin Bryant's 42-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Doug Williams. The Vikings went three and out on their next drive, and Scribner's punt traveled just 19 yards to the Redskins 45-yard line. Washington subsequently moved the ball to the Vikings 21, but came up empty when Ali Haji-Sheikh missed a 38-yard field goal.

Most of the remaining first half was a defensive struggle. With just over five minutes left, Washington running back Timmy Smith broke off a 34-yard run to the Vikings 31-yard line. But they failed to score again because of another missed field goal from Haji-Sheikh, this one from 47 yards. Minnesota took over and tied the game before halftime with quarterback Wade Wilson's 36-yard completion to tight end Steve Jordan setting up a 23-yard touchdown pass to Leo Lewis.

In the third quarter, Redskins linebacker Mel Kaufman picked off a pass that had been deflected by Butz (which turned out to be the only turnover of the game) and returned it 10 yards to the Minnesota 17-yard line to set up Haji-Sheikh's 28-yard field goal. In the final quarter, Wilson got the Vikings moving on a 10-play, 52-yard drive, finding receiver Anthony Carter for 23 yards, running back Allen Rice for 15, and Jordan for nine. Minnesota eventually got a first down on the Redskins 3-yard line, but Washington's defense made a stand, stopping them on three consecutive running plays and forcing them to settle for Chuck Nelson's 18-yard field goal to tie the game. The Redskins then marched 70 yards in eight plays, including Williams' 43-yard completion to Gary Clark, to score on Williams' 7-yard touchdown pass to Clark and take the lead, 17–10, with 5:06 left in the game, giving the Vikings one more chance for a game-tying drive. Minnesota subsequently advanced to the Washington 6-yard line, with Wilson completing five passes on the way there, but on fourth down and four with 56 seconds left in the game, running back Darrin Nelson dropped a potential touchdown catch after being tackled by cornerback Darrell Green, turning the ball over on downs and enabling the Redskins to run out the clock.

Williams completed only nine of 26 passes for 119 yards, but threw two touchdowns and no interceptions, while his team gained 161 yards on the ground, 72 from Smith. Wilson completed 19 of 39 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Carter caught seven passes for 85 yards, and returned four punts for 57 yards.

This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Vikings and Redskins. Minnesota won two of the previous three meetings.

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