NFC Championship, 2009: New Orleans 31 Minnesota 28

Game information
For the second time in three seasons, the NFC Championship Game required overtime to decide a winner. As in that game and the two other overtime games in the history of the conference championship games, the winning score was a field goal, this one from Saints kicker Garrett Hartley. The Vikings outgained New Orleans in total yards 475 to 257, and overcame five turnovers (three fumbles and two interceptions) to send the game to overtime. For the second time in 11 seasons, the Vikings were defeated by a field goal in a conference championship game, as they had lost by the same differential to the Atlanta Falcons in the 1998 NFC Championship Game. This would turn out to be Brett Favre's final playoff game.

The Vikings scored on the opening drive of the game as Adrian Peterson ran it into the end zone from 19 yards out. The Saints responded on the next drive, when Drew Brees threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to halfback Pierre Thomas that tied the game. Aided by three Saints penalties, the Vikings scored on their subsequent drive as Favre threw a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice and took a 14–7 lead.

New Orleans tied the game on their first drive of the second quarter with Brees' 9-yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson. Later on, the Vikings got a scoring opportunity when New Orleans running back Reggie Bush muffed a punt that Minnesota's Kenny Onatolu recovered on the Saints 10-yard line. But two plays after that, the Vikings lost the ball themselves on a fumbled handoff from Favre to Peterson that was recovered by linebacker Scott Fujita with less than a minute left in the half.

The Saints' started the second half with a scoring drive that only took 2:04, set up by a 61-yard kickoff return from Courtney Roby. Thomas scored his second touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run and gave New Orleans their first lead of the game. Favre responded by leading the Vikings right back down the field, completing three passes to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe for 67 yards on an 80-yard drive that ended with Peterson scoring for the second time on a 1-yard touchdown run. After a Saints punt, Minnesota drove to the New Orleans 33-yard line, where Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma ended the drive by intercepting a pass intended for Rice. The Vikings defense managed to force another punt, but once again they turned the ball over as Saints defensive lineman Will Smith forced a fumble from Percy Harvin that Remi Ayodele recovered and returned to the Vikings 7-yard line.

Following the turnover, New Orleans regained the lead early in the fourth quarter, as Brees threw his third touchdown pass of the game, this one a 5-yard toss to Bush, which was initially ruled down at the 1-yard line but changed to a touchdown after a Saints replay challenge. The Vikings responded with a drive inside the Saints 20-yard line, featuring a 27-yard run by Peterson and a 30-yard reception by Bernard Berrian, but once again the Saints defense forced a turnover, this time on a fumble by Berrian that was knocked free by defensive back Tracy Porter and recovered by Vilma. However, the Vikings defense quickly forced a punt, getting the ball back for the offense with great field position at the Minnesota 43-yard line. After a 16-yard reception by Shiancoe and an 18-yard run by Peterson, an 18-yard pass interference penalty on Porter moved the ball to the Saints 1-yard line. Peterson scored his third touchdown on the next play, tying the score with just over eight minutes left in the game.

After forcing a punt, the Vikings got the ball back with 2:42 left and drove to the Saints 33-yard line, within range of a potential game-winning field goal by kicker Ryan Longwell. However, on the next two plays, Peterson and running back Chester Taylor were both tackled for no gain. Then, after calling a timeout with 19 seconds left, Minnesota was flagged for having 12 men in the huddle and penalized five yards, bringing up third down and 15 from the 38. On the next play, the Vikings decided to pass in an attempt to move the ball into better field goal range, but Porter intercepted a desperate throw from Favre, ending the drive and sending the game into overtime.

The Saints won the coin toss in overtime and never gave up the ball. Thomas returned Longwell's kickoff 40 yards to the New Orleans 39, and the team gained 39 additional yards on 10 plays, including a fourth down conversion leap attempt by Thomas. The Saints were aided by a defensive holding penalty by cornerback Asher Allen and a pass interference penalty called against linebacker Ben Leber. Brees threw to Robert Meachem at the 23-yard line, controversially ruled a catch on the field and upheld by the booth, despite replays appearing to show the ball being moved by contact with the ground as Meachem attempted to gather it. This is where the drive stalled; Hartley was called on to try the first field goal of the game and connected from 40 yards out, sending the Saints to their first Super Bowl after 43 years in the NFL.

Four records were set in the game, three by Favre. He broke the career postseason pass attempts and passing yards records, but also set the record for most career postseason interceptions following his two picks in this game. It was the second time in three years that an interception thrown by Favre had helped to cost his team a conference championship, with his interception in overtime against the New York Giants in 2008 leading to a field goal that eliminated the Green Bay Packers. The Vikings outgained the Saints 475–257, which was the biggest yardage differential for a losing team in NFL postseason history. With his game winning kick Hartley joined Rich Karlis, Morten Andersen and Lawrence Tynes as the only four players in NFL history to score the winning points in a conference championship game decided in overtime. All four games were decided by field goals, with Hartley becoming the first to win an overtime game for the home team (in all three previous games, the home team was defeated). The two teams had nine fumbles between them in the game, with Peterson and Brees leading all players with two each. Minnesota fumbled six times and lost three of them. Peterson finished with 25 carries for 122 yards and three touchdowns, along with 2 receptions for 14 yards.

The outcome of this game was a factor in the NFL amending its rules during the ensuing offseason regarding overtime in playoff games, although the Vikings voted against the rule change. The change being that when the team receiving the ball first in overtime scores a field goal in their opening drive, the opposing team then gets a possession to try to score as well.

The excessive roughness of the Saints throughout the game was noted in the varied media broadcasts at the time, but its reputation became more controversial in 2012 with the publicity surrounding what would be known as Bountygate.

This was the third postseason meeting between the Vikings and Saints. Minnesota won both previous meetings, including the most recent meeting 34–16 in the 2000 NFC Divisional playoffs.

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