NFC Championship Game


The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate 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, 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, 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, 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 have the most appearances in the NFC Championship Game at 16, and have hosted the most at 10. The Dallas Cowboys 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, the top teams in the NFC qualify for the postseason, including all division champions 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. The two teams remaining following the Wild Card round and the divisional 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, awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl.
The George Halas Trophy should not be confused with the Newspaper Enterprise Association's George S. Halas Trophy which was awarded to the NFL's defensive player of the year from 1966 to 1996 or the Pro Football Writers Association's George S. Halas Courage Award.

List of NFC Championship Games

SeasonPlayoffsWinning teamScoreLosing teamScoreLocationStadium
1970–71Dallas Cowboys 17San Francisco 49ers10San Francisco, CaliforniaKezar Stadium
1971–72Dallas Cowboys 14San Francisco 49ers3Irving, TexasTexas Stadium
1972–73Washington Redskins 26Dallas Cowboys3Washington, D.C.RFK Stadium
1973–74Minnesota Vikings 27Dallas Cowboys10Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1974–75Minnesota Vikings 14Los Angeles Rams10Bloomington, MinnesotaMetropolitan Stadium
1975–76Dallas Cowboys 37Los Angeles Rams7Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1976–77Minnesota Vikings 24Los Angeles Rams13Bloomington, Minnesota Metropolitan Stadium
1977–78Dallas Cowboys 23Minnesota Vikings6Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1978–79Dallas Cowboys 28Los Angeles Rams0Los Angeles, California Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1979–80Los Angeles Rams 9Tampa Bay Buccaneers0Tampa, FloridaTampa Stadium
1980–81Philadelphia Eagles 20Dallas Cowboys7Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaVeterans Stadium
1981–82San Francisco 49ers 28Dallas Cowboys27San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1982–83Washington Redskins 31Dallas Cowboys17Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1983–84Washington Redskins 24San Francisco 49ers21Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1984–85San Francisco 49ers 23Chicago Bears0San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1985–86Chicago Bears 24Los Angeles Rams0Chicago, IllinoisSoldier Field
1986–87New York Giants 17Washington Redskins0East Rutherford, New JerseyGiants Stadium
1987–88Washington Redskins 17Minnesota Vikings10Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1988–89San Francisco 49ers 28Chicago Bears3Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field
1989–90San Francisco 49ers 30Los Angeles Rams3San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1990–91New York Giants 15San Francisco 49ers13San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1991–92Washington Redskins 41Detroit Lions10Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1992–93Dallas Cowboys 30San Francisco 49ers20San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1993–94Dallas Cowboys 38San Francisco 49ers21Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1994–95San Francisco 49ers 38Dallas Cowboys28San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1995–96Dallas Cowboys 38Green Bay Packers27Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1996–97Green Bay Packers 30Carolina Panthers13Green Bay, WisconsinLambeau Field
1997–98Green Bay Packers 23San Francisco 49ers10San Francisco, California 3Com Park
1998–99Atlanta Falcons 30Minnesota Vikings27Minneapolis, Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
1999–00St. Louis Rams 11Tampa Bay Buccaneers6St. Louis, MissouriTrans World Dome
2000–01New York Giants 41Minnesota Vikings0East Rutherford, New Jersey Giants Stadium
2001–02St. Louis Rams 29Philadelphia Eagles24St. Louis, Missouri Edward Jones Dome
2002–03Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27Philadelphia Eagles10Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Veterans Stadium
2003–04Carolina Panthers 14Philadelphia Eagles3Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2004–05Philadelphia Eagles 27Atlanta Falcons10Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2005–06Seattle Seahawks 34Carolina Panthers14Seattle, WashingtonQwest Field
2006–07Chicago Bears 39New Orleans Saints14Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field
2007–08New York Giants 23Green Bay Packers20Green Bay, Wisconsin Lambeau Field
2008–09Arizona Cardinals 32Philadelphia Eagles25Glendale, ArizonaUniversity of Phoenix Stadium
2009–10New Orleans Saints 31Minnesota Vikings28New Orleans, LouisianaLouisiana Superdome
2010–11Green Bay Packers 21Chicago Bears14Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field
2011–12New York Giants 20San Francisco 49ers17San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
2012–13San Francisco 49ers 28Atlanta Falcons24Atlanta, GeorgiaGeorgia Dome
2013–14Seattle Seahawks 23San Francisco 49ers17Seattle, Washington CenturyLink Field
2014–15Seattle Seahawks 28Green Bay Packers22Seattle, Washington CenturyLink Field
2015–16Carolina Panthers 49Arizona Cardinals15Charlotte, North CarolinaBank of America Stadium
2016–17Atlanta Falcons 44Green Bay Packers21Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Dome
2017–18Philadelphia Eagles 38Minnesota Vikings7Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2018–19Los Angeles Rams 26New Orleans Saints23New Orleans, Louisiana Mercedes-Benz Superdome
2019–20San Francisco 49ers
37Green Bay Packers20Santa Clara, CaliforniaLevi's Stadium

Appearances

NFC Championship Game records

Notes: