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The 'NFC Championship Game' is one of the two semi-final matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is currently played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the National Football Conference. The winner receives the 'George Halas Trophy' and advances to face the winner of the AFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl on the first Sunday in February. The current NFC Champions are the Chicago Bears.
It began in 1970 after the merger between the NFL and the American Football League. The NFC was formed with most of the teams that played in the NFL before the merger.

Contents

Playoff structure

Trivia

List of Championship Games

NFC Championship Game appearances 1970-

See also

References

External links

Playoff structure

At the end of each football season, a series of playoff games involving the top six teams in the NFC are conducted, consisting of the four division champions and two wild card teams. The two teams remaining play in the NFC Championship game.

Trivia

★ Since the NFL-AFL merger, the Dallas Cowboys (1970, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1992, 1993, 1995) have won the most NFC Championships with 8. Including the years before the merger, the Green Bay Packers have won the most championships with 10 (1936, 1939, 1944, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1996, 1997)

★ Including the NFL years, the Dallas Cowboys have appeared in a record 16 NFL/NFC Championship Games. (2 before the merger and 14 after the merger).

★ The Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles hold the record of appearing in the most consecutive NFC Championship Games with 4 appearances (Dallas – 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and Philadelphia – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004).

★ The Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles also share the record for most consecutive losses in the NFC Championship Game with 3 (Dallas – 1980, 1981, 1982 and Philadelphia – 2001, 2002, 2003).

★ Since the NFL-AFL merger, five franchises in the NFC have appeared in more than five NFC Championship Games. The teams include: the Dallas Cowboys (14 appearances), the San Francisco 49ers (12 appearances), the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams (10 appearances), the Minnesota Vikings (7 appearances), and the Washington Redskins (6 appearances).

★ San Francisco is the city that has hosted the most NFC Championship Games. The city has hosted the game on 8 separate occasions (1970, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997) although San Francisco loses the NFL claim to the AFC's Pittsburgh Steelers with 9 times as host for any Championship Game.

★ The attendance record for an NFC Championship Game was set in Los Angeles when the Los Angeles Rams lost to the Dallas Cowboys on January 4, 1976. The paid attendance was 88,919.

★ Including the years before the merger, only two championship games have ever gone into overtime. (1958 – Baltimore Colts vs. New York Giants, 1998 – Atlanta Falcons vs. Minnesota Vikings)

★ In the years after the merger, the record for most points scored by a winning team is 41. (1991 –Washington Redskins vs. Detroit Lions, 2000 –New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings). Before the merger, the record for most points scored by a winning team was 73 (1940 – Chicago Bears vs. Washington Redskins)

★ The only current NFC team to have not appeared in an NFC Championship Game since the NFL-AFL merger is the Arizona Cardinals

★ Three teams since the merger have never won an NFC Championship. These teams include the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, and the New Orleans Saints.

★ Only three NFC Championship Games were played in a dome stadium. These games were played in Minneapolis in 1998, and in St. Loius in 1999 and 2001.

★ A team from the NFC South has appeared in every NFC Championship Game since the 2002 realignment: Tampa Bay in 2003, Carolina in 2004 and 2006, Atlanta in 2005, and New Orleans in 2007. The NFC South is also the first division since the realignment that has had each team in the division make at least one Conference Championship Game appearance.

★ The winning team is rewarded with t-shirts and hats after the game that usually declare them "NFC Conference Champions", an example of a redundant acronym

List of Championship Games

Season	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Score	Location	Stadium
1970-71	Dallas Cowboys	17	San Francisco 49ers	10	San Francisco	Kezar Stadium
1971-72	Dallas Cowboys	14	San Francisco 49ers	3	Irving, Texas	Texas Stadium
1972-73	Washington Redskins	26	Dallas Cowboys	3	Washington, D.C.	RFK Stadium
1973-74	Minnesota Vikings	27	Dallas Cowboys	10	Irving, Texas	Texas Stadium
1974-75	Minnesota Vikings	14	Los Angeles Rams	10	Bloomington, Minnesota	Metropolitan Stadium
1975-76	Dallas Cowboys	37	Los Angeles Rams	7	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1976-77	Minnesota Vikings	24	Los Angeles Rams	13	Bloomington, Minnesota	Metropolitan Stadium
1977-78	Dallas Cowboys	26	Minnesota Vikings	3	Irving, Texas	Texas Stadium
1978-79	Dallas Cowboys	28	Los Angeles Rams	0	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1979-80	Los Angeles Rams	9	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	0	Tampa	Tampa Stadium
1980-81	Philadelphia Eagles	20	Dallas Cowboys	7	Philadelphia	Veterans Stadium
1981-82	San Francisco 49ers	28	Dallas Cowboys	27	San Francisco	Candlestick Park
1982-83	Washington Redskins	31	Dallas Cowboys	17	Washington, D.C.	RFK Stadium
1983-84	Washington Redskins	24	San Francisco 49ers	21	Washington, D.C.	RFK Stadium
1984-85	San Francisco 49ers	23	Chicago Bears	0	San Francisco	Candlestick Park
1985-86	Chicago Bears	24	Los Angeles Rams	0	Chicago	Soldier Field
1986-87	New York Giants	17	Washington Redskins	0	East Rutherford, New Jersey	Giants Stadium
1987-88	Washington Redskins	17	Minnesota Vikings	10	Washington, D.C.	RFK Stadium
1988-89	San Francisco 49ers	28	Chicago Bears	3	Chicago	Soldier Field
1989-90	San Francisco 49ers	30	Los Angeles Rams	3	San Francisco	Candlestick Park
1990-91	New York Giants	15	San Francisco 49ers	13	San Francisco	Candlestick Park
1991-92	Washington Redskins	41	Detroit Lions	10	Washington, D.C.	RFK Stadium
1992-93	Dallas Cowboys	30	San Francisco 49ers	20	San Francisco	Candlestick Park
1993-94	Dallas Cowboys	38	San Francisco 49ers	21	Irving, Texas	Texas Stadium
1994-95	San Francisco 49ers	38	Dallas Cowboys	28	San Francisco	Candlestick Park
1995-96	Dallas Cowboys	38	Green Bay Packers	27	Irving, Texas	Texas Stadium
1996-97	Green Bay Packers	30	Carolina Panthers	13	Green Bay	Lambeau Field
1997-98	Green Bay Packers	23	San Francisco 49ers	10	San Francisco	3Com Park
1998-99	Atlanta Falcons	30[1]	Minnesota Vikings	27	Minneapolis	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
1999-00	St. Louis Rams	11	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	St. Louis	Trans World Dome
2000-01	New York Giants	41	Minnesota Vikings	0	East Rutherford	Giants Stadium
2001-02	St. Louis Rams	29	Philadelphia Eagles	24	St. Louis	Edward Jones Dome
2002-03	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	27	Philadelphia Eagles	10	Philadelphia	Veterans Stadium
2003-04	Carolina Panthers	14	Philadelphia Eagles	3	Philadelphia	Lincoln Financial Field
2004-05	Philadelphia Eagles	27	Atlanta Falcons	10	Philadelphia	Lincoln Financial Field
2005-06	Seattle Seahawks	34	Carolina Panthers	14	Seattle	Qwest Field
2006-07	Chicago Bears	39	New Orleans Saints	14	Chicago	Soldier Field

1. Sudden-death overtime

NFC Championship Game appearances 1970-

Num	Team	W	L	PCT
14	Dallas Cowboys	8	6	.571
12	San Francisco 49ers	5	7	.417
9	Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams	3	6	.333
7	Minnesota Vikings	3	4	.429
6	Washington Redskins	5	1	.833
5	Philadelphia Eagles	2	3	.400
4	Chicago Bears	2	2	.500
3	New York Giants	3	0	1.00
3	Green Bay Packers	2	1	.667
3	Carolina Panthers	1	2	.333
3	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1	2	.333
2	Atlanta Falcons	1	1	.500
1	Seattle Seahawks	1	0	1.00
1	New Orleans Saints	0	1	.000
1	Detroit Lions	0	1	.000

The St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals have never appeared in an NFC Championship Game.

See also

★ American Football Conference Championship Game

References

★ Time Almanac 2004

External links

★ National Football League

★ Super Bowl