Which two teams will be playing in the Super Bowl? Welcome to the NFL playoffs championship game round and its rich history.
It wasn’t until the league’s 14th campaign that its champion was decided on the field. The league first dubbed the American Professional Football Conference and quickly changed to the American Professional Football Association began play in 1920. It would become the National Football League in 1922.
In 1933, the Chicago Bears and New York Giants played for the league title and the team from the Windy City came out on top, 23-21. These 10 selections come from the pool of NFL/NFC championship contests dating back to that year and also include the AFL/AFC title clashes from 1960 to today.
There was a lot to choose from and just was the case with the wild card and divisional round, whittling down the list was difficult but a labor of love.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
10. Saints 31, Vikings 28 (OT) (NFC: 2009)
Saints’ kicker Garrett Hartley kicked a 40-yard field goal in overtime to send New Orleans to their first Super Bowl and only Super Sunday appearance to date.
Sean Payton’s club was outgained 475-257 in total yards, but the Vikings also committed five turnovers. That included a costly interception by Vikings’ quarterback Brett Favre (following a 12 men on the field penalty) late in the game when Minnesota appeared to be in field goal range.
Drew Brees threw for 197 yards and three scores in the victory. Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns but also had two of Minnesota’s six fumbles on the afternoon.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
9. Jets 27, Raiders 23 (AFL: 1968)
If the Jets were to shock the Colts in Super Bowl III, they’d have to survive a shootout at frigid Shea Stadium against the defending AFL champions. Both the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders finished the contest with 400-plus yards of total offense. However, Weeb Ewbank’s squad came up bigger when it counted most in this entertaining contest.
Neither quarterback was accurate on this day. Joe Namath connected on just 19 of his 49 throws, albeit for 266 yards. Oakland’s Daryle Lamonica hit on only 20-of-47 attempts. However, he threw for 401 yards and a score. New York jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead via Namath’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Don Maynard and a 33-yard field goal by Jim Turner. The teams battled and by the fourth quarter, the Silver and Black owned a 23-20 edge.
Namath finished the game with three touchdown passes, the last a six-yard strike to Maynard late in the fourth quarter to put his team ahead to stay. The Raiders drove to the Jets’ 24-yard-line in the closing moments, but a Lamonica incompletion to Charlie Smith was ruled a lateral and the Jets recovered to seal the victory. Raiders wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff caught seven passes for 190 yards and a score in a losing effort.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
8. Patriots 37, Chiefs 31 (OT) (AFC: 2018)
This Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the AFC Championship Game for the fifth consecutive year. The first of those contests came in 2018. It was a season in which Andy Reid’s team not only captured the top seed in the AFC playoffs but second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes won league MVP honors in his first season as a starter.
Bill Belichick’s team was seeking a third straight trip to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Chiefs were looking to play on Super Sunday for the first time since winning it all way back in 1969.
Andy Reid’s club looked a little tight in the first half and trailed 14-0 at intermission. New England owned a 17-7 edge after three quarters. Then things got very interesting. The teams combined for 38 points in the fourth quarter, 24 of those by Kansas City. Reid’s team would eventually take a 28-24 lead with 2:03 to play.
The Pats would regain the advantage with 39 seconds to play but the teams were headed to overtime after Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker connected from 39 yards out with eight seconds to play. Reid’s club never saw the ball again. New England capped off a 13-play, 75-yard march with a Rex Burkhead two-yard TD run in the extra session. The Patriots finished the game with 524 total yards on 94 offensive plays.
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.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
6. Colts 38, Patriots 34 (AFC: 2006)
For the third time in four seasons, Bill Belichick’s squad and Tony Dungy’s team would meet in the postseason. In both 2003 and ’04, the Patriots knocked off the Colts in the playoffs on the way to winning Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX.
This postseason, both Indianapolis and New England had already won a pair of playoff games entering this tilt. In this AFC title game, the Pats were looking to make quick work of the Colts after taking a 21-3 second-quarter lead. The Patriots’ first touchdown came courtesy of guard Logan Mankins’ fumble recovery in the end zone. The third TD came when Asante Samuel picked off Colts’ quarterback Peyton Manning and returned the prize 39 yards.
When it was all said and done, however, Dungy’s team would put together 32 second-half points in this see-saw affair. Indianapolis would outgain New England, 455-319, in total yards. Manning overcame that early pick and finished the game with 349 yards through the air, including a one-yard TD toss to defensive lineman Dan Klecko.
The resilient Colts took their first lead of the game with just 1:00 to play on RB Joseph Addai’s three-yard TD run, and secured the victory when cornerback Marlin Jackson intercepted Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady moments later.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
5. Broncos 38, Browns 33 (AFC: 1987)
This Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will meet for the AFC title for the second straight year. Such was the case with the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos in the mid-1980s. Courtesy of a 98-yard touchdown drive that helped Denver reach overtime and a Rich Karlis’ field goal in the extra session, the Broncos knocked off the Browns, 23-20, in Cleveland in the 1986 AFC Championship Game.
In a season that was marred by a players’ strike and replacement performers, these teams would meet again with a Super Bowl appearance on the line, this time at Denver. Quarterbacks John Elway and Bernie Kosar went head-to-head in a memorable battle at Mile High Stadium. The latter threw for 356 yards and three scores.
Trailing 38-31 in the fourth quarter, Marty Schottenheimer’s Browns had moved the ball down to the Broncos’ eight-yard-line with just over a minute remaining. Running back Earnest Byner would finish the game with 187 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. He took a handoff from Kosar and was three yards away from the end zone. However, Denver defensive back Jeremiah Castille stripped Byner of the ball and recovered “The Fumble” with 1:05 to play, essentially clinching the victory.
Elway threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns as the team headed to Super Bowl XXII.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
4. Packers 21, Cowboys 17 (NFL: 1967)
In 1966, the defending NFL champion Green Bay Packers traveled to Dallas and defeated Tom Landry’s Cowboys, 34-27, for the league title. It earned Vince Lombardi’s club a berth in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The Packers would go on to defeat the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, in what was eventually referred to as Super Bowl I.
This time around, the Cowboys and Packers would meet in a different place with much different conditions. It was minus-13 degrees at kickoff at Lambeau Field and a trip to Super Bowl II was on the line. Landry’s club looked a bit frozen early on as a pair of Bart Starr touchdown passes to Boyd Dowler, covering eight and 43 yards, respectively, a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
Dallas would score the game’s next 17 points, taking the lead when running back Dan Reeves connected with Lance Rentzel for a 50-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Down 17-14, Starr took over with 4:50 to play and drove his team downfield. On third-and-goal at Dallas’ one-yard-line, the Packers’ signal-caller followed guard Jerry Kramer into the end zone and the Pack survived the “Ice Bowl” thanks to Starr’s touchdown with 13 seconds to play.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
3. Browns 30, Rams 28 (NFL: 1950)
The Cleveland Browns were a member of the All-America Football Conference for all four of the league’s seasons. Paul Brown’s club won the championship each of those years. In 1950, the club, along with the San Francisco 49ers and a Baltimore Colts’ team joined the National Football League.
In their first NFL campaign, the Browns finished 12-2 and hosted the Los Angeles Rams (who originally called Cleveland home) for the league title. Los Angeles featured quarterback Bob Waterfield, who connected with Glenn Davis for an 82-yard score on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Waterfield would throw for 312 yards and the aforementioned touchdown but also served up four interceptions.
Meanwhile, Browns’ quarterback Otto Graham enjoyed a huge outing. He would be picked off once but also threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns. The talented performer also totaled 12 carries for 99 yards on the ground.
The Rams owned a 28-20 lead entering the fourth quarter but were done scoring for the day. Graham threw a 14-yard TD pass to Rex Bumgardner to get his team closer. However, the game-winning points came from defensive tackle/kicker Lou Groza. He connected on a 16-yard field goal with just 28 seconds as Cleveland prevailed.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
2. Broncos 23, Browns 20 (OT) (AFC: 1986)
Both of these teams were coming off narrow victories in the divisional playoffs. Dan Reeves’ Broncos dethroned the AFC champion Patriots in Denver, 22-17. Marty Schottenheimer’s Browns outlasted the New York Jets, 23-20, in two overtimes.
This would be the game that turned Broncos’ quarterback John Elway into a legend. Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar found wideout Brian Brennan for a 48-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Mark Moseley’s PAT gave Cleveland a 20-13 lead with just 5:43 to play. On the ensuing kickoff, Denver found itself on its own two-yard-line after misplaying the kickoff. Reeves’ club set up shop with 5:32 on the clock.
It would take Elway and company 15 plays to cover 98 yards, and “The Drive” ended in the Browns’ end zone via a five-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Mark Jackson with only 37 ticks left on the clock. Rich Karlis connected on the extra point and the teams headed to OT.
The Browns got the first crack at winning the game but were a quick three-and-out. The Broncos would orchestrate a 60-yard drive in overtime and Karlis delivered on a 33-yard field goal to break Cleveland’s heart as Denver advanced to Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena.
NFL Playoffs: Top 10 Championship games in NFL history
1. 49ers 28, Cowboys 27 (NFC: 1981)
The Dallas Cowboys had reached the NFC Championship Game for the ninth time in 12 seasons dating back to 1970. The San Francisco 49ers were playing in the conference title tilt for the first time since 1971 as the franchise looked to reach Super Sunday for the first time. Led by head coach Bill Walsh and emerging quarterback Joe Montana, the Niners had rebounded from a 6-10 showing in 1980 to win the NFC West with a 13-3 mark.
A see-saw affair from the start at Candlestick Park, Walsh’s club made things tough on itself with six turnovers, including three interceptions by Montana. The 49ers would outgain their guests in total yards, 393-250.
Trailing 27-21 with 4:54 to play, San Francisco needed an 89-yard touchdown drive to stay in the game. Walsh fooled the Cowboys by relying on the run early in the march. With 51 seconds left and the ball on Dallas’ six-yard line, Montana rolled to his right and threw to the back of the end zone. Wide receiver Dwight Clark, who finished the game with eight catches for 120 yards and a pair of scores, reached up and snared the ball. All told, “The Catch” helped send Walsh’s squad and the 49ers’ franchise to its first Super Bowl.