<Tr> <Th> Network </Th> <Td> Fox </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Announcers </Th> <Td> John Madden and Pat Summerall </Td> </Tr> <P> The 1998 NFC Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 17, 1999, to determine the National Football Conference (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 . </P> <P> The game is considered one of the most exciting conference championship games in NFL history . In 1998, 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 . </P>

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