The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the
National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final
playoff
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
games of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), the largest professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
league in the world. The game is played on the last Sunday in January by the two remaining playoff teams, following the NFC postseason's first two rounds. The
NFC champion then advances to face the winner of the
AFC Championship Game in the
Super Bowl.
The game was established as part of the
1970 merger between the NFL and the
American Football League (AFL), with the merged league realigning into two
conferences. Since 1984, each winner of the NFC Championship Game has also received the George Halas Trophy, named after the founder and longtime owner of the
Chicago Bears,
George Halas.
History
The first NFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season after the
merger between the NFL and the
American Football League. The game is considered the successor to the original
NFL Championship, and its game results are listed with that of its predecessor in the annual ''NFL Record and Fact Book''. Since the pre-merger NFL consisted of six more teams than the AFL (16 teams for the NFL and 10 for the AFL), a realignment was done as part of the merger to create two conferences with an equal number of teams: The NFL's
Baltimore Colts, the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
, and the
Pittsburgh Steelers joined the ten former AFL teams to form the AFC; while the remaining 13 pre-merger NFL clubs formed the NFC.
Every NFC team has played in an NFC Championship at least once. The
Seattle Seahawks, who have been members in both the AFC and the NFC, hold the distinction of appearing in both conference title games. Only the
Detroit Lions have yet to win or host an NFC Championship Game. The
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
have the most appearances in the NFC Championship Game at 17, and have hosted the most at 10. The
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...
have won the most NFC Championships at 8.
The Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings are the only two NFC teams to appear in at least one NFC Championship game in every decade since 1970.
Playoff structure
The structure of the
NFL playoffs has changed several times since 1970. At the end of each
regular season
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...
, the top teams in the
NFC qualify for the postseason, including all division champions (three division winners from the
1970–71 to
2001–02 seasons; four since the
2002–03 season) and a set number of "
wild card" teams that possess the two best win–loss records after the regular season yet fail to win their division (one wild card team from the
1970–71 to
1977–78 seasons; two wild cards from
1978–79 to
1989–90, and from
2002–03 to
2019–20; three from
1990–91
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
to
2001–02, and since
2020–21). The two teams remaining following the Wild Card round (first round) and the divisional round (second round) play in the NFC Championship Game, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl.
Initially, the site of the NFC Championship Game was determined on a rotating basis. Since the
1975–76 season, the site of the game has been based on playoff seeding based on the regular season won-loss record, with the highest surviving seed hosting the game. A wild card team can only host the game if both participants are wild cards; such an instance has yet to occur in the NFL.
George Halas Trophy
Beginning with the
1984–85 NFL playoffs, the winner of the NFC Championship Game has received the
George Halas Trophy, named after the longtime owner and coach of the
Chicago Bears, a charter member of the NFL. The original design consisted of a wooden base with a sculpted NFC logo in the front and a sculpture of various football players in the back.
It, and the
Lamar Hunt Trophy that is awarded to the AFC champion, were redesigned for the
2010–11 NFL playoffs by
Tiffany & Co. at the request of the NFL in an attempt to make both awards more significant. The trophies are now a new, silver design with the outline of a hollow football positioned on a small base to more closely resemble the
Vince Lombardi Trophy
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to vic ...
, awarded to the winner of the
Super Bowl.
The George Halas Trophy should not be confused with the
Newspaper Enterprise Association
The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...
's
George Halas Trophy, which was awarded to the NFL's defensive player of the year from 1966 to 1996 or the
Pro Football Writers Association
The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve ...
's George S. Halas Courage Award.
Prior to the merger in 1970, the
NFL champions were awarded the
Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy
The Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was the trophy awarded to the champions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1934 through 1967. The trophy was named after Ed Thorp, a noted referee, rules expert, sporting goods dealer, and friend to many of the ...
, starting in
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
.
List of NFC Championship Games
:''Numbers in parentheses in the winning team column are NFC Championships won by that team.'' ''Bold indicates team won Super Bowl that year''.
:''Numbers in parentheses in the city and stadium column is the number of times that metropolitan area and stadium has hosted a NFC Championship, respectively.''
Appearances, 1970–present
Appearances by year
In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning Conference Championship appearances.
Most common matchups
NFC Championship Game records
* Most victories: 8 – Dallas Cowboys (
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
–
1971,
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
,
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
–
1978,
1992–
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
,
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
)
* Most losses: 10** – San Francisco 49ers (1970–1971,
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
, 1992–1993,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
,
2011,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
,
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
)
* Most appearances: 17 – San Francisco 49ers (1970–1971, 1981, 1983–1984, 1988–1990,
1992–
1994, 1997, 2011–
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
, 2019, 2021)
* Most consecutive appearances: 4 (tie, 2 teams, 3 times)
** Dallas Cowboys (1970–1973, 1992–1995)
** Philadelphia Eagles (
2001–
2004)
* Most consecutive victories: 2 – (tie, 6 teams, 8 times)
** Dallas Cowboys (1970–1971, 1977–1978, 1992–1993)
** Minnesota Vikings (1973–
1974)
** Washington Redskins (1982–1983)
** San Francisco 49ers (
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
–
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
)
** Green Bay Packers (
1996–
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
)
** Seattle Seahawks (2013–2014)
* Most victories without a loss: 5** – New York Giants (
1986,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
,
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
,
2007,
2011)
* Most appearances without a win: 1 –
Detroit Lions (1991)
* Most consecutive appearances without a win: 6 –
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
(1977, 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009, 2017)
* Most defensive shutouts: 2**; – New York Giants (
Jan 11, 1987, 17–0 vs Redskins and
Jan 14, 2001, 41–0 vs Vikings)
* Most times shut out: 2**; – Los Angeles Rams (
Jan 7, 1979, 0–28 vs Cowboys and
Jan 12, 1986, 0–24 vs Bears)
* Most consecutive losses: 3* – (tie, 3 times)
** Los Angeles Rams (1974–
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
)
** Dallas Cowboys (1980–1982)
** Philadelphia Eagles (
2001–
2003)
* Most games hosted: 10 – San Francisco 49ers (1970,
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
,
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
,
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
–1990, 1992, 1994,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
, 2011, 2019)
* Most consecutive games hosted: 3; – Philadelphia Eagles (
2002–
2004)
* Most numerous matchup: 6** – Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers (1970–1971, 1981, 1992–1994)
* Most points scored: 49 points – January 24, 2016 – Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals (2015)
* Largest margin of victory: 41 points – January 14, 2001 (2000), New York Giants (41) vs. Minnesota Vikings (0)
* Closest margin of victory: 1 point – San Francisco 49ers (28) vs. Dallas Cowboys (27), 1981 NFC Championship Game**
* Fewest points scored, winning team: 9; January 6, 1980 (
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
) – Los Angeles Rams vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
* Fewest points scored, either team: 0*; (tie, 5 teams, 6 times)
** Los Angeles Rams 0 vs Dallas Cowboys 28
January 7, 1979
** Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0 vs Los Angeles Rams 9
January 6, 1980
** Chicago Bears 0 vs San Francisco 49ers 23
January 6, 1985
** Los Angeles Rams 0 vs Chicago Bears 24
January 12, 1986
** Washington Redskins 0 vs New York Giants 17
January 11, 1987
** Minnesota Vikings 0 vs New York Giants 41
January 14, 2001
* Most points scored, losing team: 28 (tie); January 15, 1995 (
1994) – Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers, January 24, 2010 (
2009) – Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints
* Most combined points scored: 66; January 15, 1995 (1994) – San Francisco 49ers (38) vs. Dallas Cowboys (28)
* Fewest combined points scored: 9**; January 6, 1980 (1979) – Los Angeles Rams (9) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0)
* Longest game: 71 minutes, 52 seconds**; January 17, 1999 (
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
) – Atlanta Falcons (30) @ Minnesota Vikings (27), OT
* Most NFC Championships won in overtime: 2** – New York Giants (
2007,
2011)
* Most NFC Championships lost in overtime: 2* (tie) – Green Bay Packers (
2007,
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
) Minnesota Vikings (
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
,
2009)
* Current teams which have never hosted an NFC Championship Game:
**
Detroit Lions[The Lions last hosted and won the 1957 NFL Championship Game during the pre-Super Bowl era.]
* Current teams which have never won an NFC Championship:
** Detroit Lions (0–1)
* Longest drought without appearing in an NFC Championship Game: 29 years
** Detroit Lions (last appearance –
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
)
** Washington Redskins (last appearance –
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
)
* Longest drought without an NFC Championship: 51 years***; Detroit Lions
* Largest comeback: 17 points (trailed 17–0; won 28–24), San Francisco 49ers,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
* Overtime games:
**
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
Atlanta Falcons 30 Minnesota Vikings 27
**
2007 New York Giants 23 Green Bay Packers 20
**
2009 New Orleans Saints 31 Minnesota Vikings 28
**
2011 New York Giants 20 San Francisco 49ers 17
**
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
Seattle Seahawks 28 Green Bay Packers 22
**
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
Los Angeles Rams 26 New Orleans Saints 23
Notes:
*
*Tied for Conference Championship record
*
TV ratings
*2006: 35.233 million viewers
*2010: 57.9 million viewers
*2011: 51.9 million viewers
*2012: 57.6 million viewers
*2013: 42.0 million viewers
*2014: 55.91 million viewers
*2015: 49.8 million viewers
Footnotes
References
*''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
Almanac'' 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nfc Championship Game
Recurring sporting events established in 1971