NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history

Wide receiver Dwight Clark of the San Francisco 49ers leaves a Dallas defender in his dust after making 'The Catch' to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in the 1981 NFC Championship Game on January 10, 1982 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Arthur Anderson/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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Jamal Anderson, Eugene Robinson, Ray Buchanan, Dan Reeves, Atlanta Falcons. (Photo by Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images) /

NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history

7. Falcons 30, Vikings 27 (OT) (NFC: 1998)

Led by a rejuvenated Randall Cunningham and a rookie wideout named Randy Moss, the 1998 Minnesota Vikings set a then-NFL single-season record by scoring a whopping 556 points. Not as prolific in terms of putting points on the board, the Atlanta Falcons were an imposing 14-2 and winners of the NFC West. A win over the division-rival 49ers in the divisional playoffs had put the team in the conference title game for the first time.

The clubs would meet for the NFC title at the Metrodome. Dennis Green’s Vikings had cruised through the regular season with a 15-1 mark while rolling over the Cardinals in the Divisional Playoffs. The Purple Gang appeared headed to the Super Bowl.

The Falcons got a break when Vikings’ kicker Gary Anderson missed his only field goal of the season late in the fourth quarter. Down 27-20, quarterback Chris Chandler led an eight-play, 71-yard drive that resulted in a 16-yard scoring toss to wideout Terance Mathis with 49 seconds to play. Morten Andersen’s PAT would send the game into overtime. His 38-yard field goal in overtime sent Dan Reeves’ club to Super Bowl XXXIII.

Chandler finished the afternoon with 340 yards passing and three aerial scores as the Falcons handed the Vikings their only home loss in 1998.

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