NFC Championship, 1998: Atlanta 30 Minnesota 27

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.

The game is considered one of the most memorable conference championship games in NFL history. Entering the playoffs, the Vikings were the favorite to win the Super Bowl, as they had set the NFL record for most points scored by a team in a single season. They had gone undefeated in their home stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, during the regular season, and their placekicker, Gary Anderson, had become the first kicker in NFL history to convert every field goal and extra point attempt in a season. At a critical moment late in the game, Anderson missed a field goal for the first time that year, which, if converted, would have given the Vikings a nearly insurmountable 10-point lead. Instead, the Falcons scored a touchdown to tie the game on their ensuing drive and subsequently won by a field goal in overtime. Due to its impact on the game's outcome, Anderson's missed field goal has since become the focal point of the loss.

The Falcons lost 34–19 to the Denver Broncos two weeks later in Super Bowl XXXIII. The Falcons would not return to the Super Bowl until the 2016 NFL season, when the Falcons lost in overtime to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Although the game long stood as the proudest moment in the history of the Falcons franchise, the 1998 NFC Championship 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.

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.

The Falcons forced the Vikings to punt on the opening drive of the second half, and two long plays by wide receiver Tim Dwight set up a 27-yard field goal by Morten Andersen, which cut the Falcons' deficit to three points. The Vikings answered the score on their ensuing possession, driving 82 yards in 15 plays to score a touchdown on a five-yard Matthew Hatchette reception, which made the score 27–17 with just over 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Falcons responded with a 70-yard completion to Tony Martin, which set up a 24-yard field goal by Morten Andersen to make the score 27–20. On the ensuing Vikings drive, Cunningham fumbled a snap and the Falcons recovered the ball on the Vikings' 30-yard line; the Falcons failed to score after an incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs with six minutes left in the game. The Vikings then drove down to the Falcons' 22-yard line, where an incomplete pass on 3rd down set up a field goal attempt by Gary Anderson.

Anderson's kick
Here's the snap, the kick is up, and it is ... no good! No good! Gary Anderson has missed a field goal for the first time in two years!

— Falcons radio broadcast of the NFC Championship Game

The incompletion on 3rd down stopped the clock with 2:11 left in the game. The field goal attempt was placed from 39 yards away, which is not considered a particularly difficult field goal distance by NFL standards. Because the game was played indoors at the Metrodome, there were no adverse weather conditions that might have affected the kick. The ball was snapped on 4th down with punter Mitch Berger holding from the left hash mark. The Vikings faced a heavy rush from cornerback Michael Booker on the left side of the line of scrimmage and cornerbacks Ronnie Bradford and Ray Buchanan on the right, who ran into Anderson and knocked him to the ground after the kick. The ball sailed about a foot wide left of the upright with 2:07 left on the game clock. Afterward, Anderson stood on the field momentarily with arms akimbo before heading to the sideline, as Falcons players celebrated around him.

A converted field goal would have given the Vikings a 10-point lead, which would have almost certainly clinched victory, according to Pro Football Prospectus and the NFL Network documentary The Missing Rings. Citing a mathematical algorithm by sports analytics company numberFire, The New York Post reported that the Vikings had a 95.23% chance of winning the game had Anderson converted the field goal.

End of regulation and overtime
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." Writing for the website Sporting News, Jeff Diamond, the Vikings' general manager at the time, observed that, "Our team played the rest of the game as if it was in shock that our automatic kicker had missed at the most critical time." Randle concurred, describing his reaction to the kick as, "I was standing there like someone just punched me in my stomach, and was like, 'Oh my God, oh my God.'" Brian Billick, the offensive coordinator of the 1998 Vikings, went as far as stating, "I'm not sure the city had ever rebounded from it." Cunningham concurred by claiming, "With that kick, it just seemed like the whole franchise went wide left."

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; neither player ever reached the Super Bowl in their careers.

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.

Cunningham drew on his religious faith to persevere through the loss, believing that God had a reason for everything to happen. Years later, he reflected, "It just wasn’t our destiny to be in the Super Bowl. That’s my conclusion. Because if it was, we would have gone." Immediately after the game, he expressed this belief in an attempt to console Carter. The following season, Cunningham was benched for poor play after six games and was released by the Vikings at the end of the year. He also would never play in a Super Bowl.

Overjoyed with victory, Falcons players also wept after the game, and the team ripped open pillows and threw feathers in celebration on their charter flight back to Atlanta. Buchanan stated that the win "feels like a miracle" due to the negative perception of the Falcons in years past. "This team was dirt. People stepped on us and wiped their feet on the doormat. Now we feel like a bunch of Michael Jordans." Chandler joked that due to his game-winning field goal, Morten Andersen "gets to keep his green card", referring to Andersen's Danish nationality, while running back Jamal Anderson felt vindicated for the media's continuous focus on the Vikings in the days leading up to the game, which made him feel disrespected.

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." Years later, Smith went on to criticize Gary Anderson in particular for his missed field goal and its contribution to the Vikings' loss.

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