1994: Vikings Prevail Over Bears with Moon-to-Carter TD in Overtime

The Minnesota Vikings had obtained 37-year-old QB Warren Moon (pictured at right) from the Houston Oilers after the 1993 season, with the hope that, having fallen short in the postseason in 1992 and ’93, the addition of the prolific passer would take them deeper into the playoffs. For sure, the addition of Moon, who had been operating in a pass-heavy run-and-shoot offense in Houston, changed the complexion of the offense and Head Coach Dennis Green’s team got off to a 7-2 start in ’94. But coming into the December 1 game against the Chicago Bears, the Vikings had lost three straight and were 7-5.

The Bears, under second-year Head Coach Dave Wannstedt, had won four consecutive games and were 8-4, putting them ahead of Minnesota in the NFC Central division. QB Erik Kramer had been brought in as a free agent to direct the offense, but struggled when he wasn’t injured. Fifth-year veteran Steve Walsh had been effective in his place – a career backup with a notoriously weak arm, he was also a smart game manager who could be effective in a conservative offense. Chicago was a team of no-names, but it was in the thick of the playoff race and had not lost with Walsh starting at quarterback.

There were 61,483 fans for the Thursday night game at the Metrodome. Things started off well for the Vikings when, on the game’s third play from scrimmage, CB Dewayne Washington intercepted a Walsh pass and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown. The Bears came right back, however, driving 67 yards in nine plays with Walsh throwing to RB Robert Green for a 39-yard TD to tie the score at 7-7.

The teams traded punts until midway through the second quarter when Fuad Reveiz kicked a 45-yard field goal that put the Vikings ahead again at 10-7. After LB Ashley Sheppard recovered a Walsh fumble with just under two minutes left in the half, Minnesota put more points on the board as Reveiz booted a 41-yard field goal on the last play of the half. It was 13-7 in favor of the Vikings at the intermission.

Minnesota went three-and-out in the first possession of the third quarter, and the ensuing punt was returned 60 yards for a touchdown by WR Jeff Graham. With the successful extra point, the Bears were in front for the first time at 14-13. The Vikings responded by driving 55 yards in 10 plays, and Reveiz kicked his third field goal, of 29 yards, to put Minnesota back in the lead at 16-14.

Chicago came back to score again. An 11-play, 64-yard drive that was highlighted by a 30-yard pass completion from Walsh to WR Greg McMurtry resulted in a 29-yard field goal by Kevin Butler and renewed lead of 17-16. That one-point margin expanded quickly when Minnesota WR Qadry Ismail fumbled the kickoff return and LB Barry Minter recovered for the Bears at the Vikings’ 33 yard line. Three plays later Walsh passed to McMurtry for a 15-yard touchdown and Chicago had a 24-16 lead after three quarters.

Early in the fourth quarter, Reveiz kicked a fourth field goal for the Vikings, from 38 yards, to narrow the score to 24-19. The teams traded punts, but a fumble by Bears RB Lewis Tillman gave Minnesota the ball at the Chicago 15 yard line. The Vikings capitalized when Moon tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to WR Cris Carter. Following a successful two-point conversion on a Moon pass to TE Andrew Jordan, Minnesota was back in front at 27-24.

Still, the Bears came back as WR Nate Lewis returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards Butler tied the game just after the two-minute warning on a 33-yard field goal. Both teams had opportunities to win in regulation, but after trading punts, a long bomb by Moon was intercepted by CB Donnell Woolford at the Chicago three yard line.

The Bears won the toss in the overtime period and appeared set to win as they drove to the Minnesota 22 in nine plays. But Butler’s 40-yard field goal attempt was wide to the left, and two plays later Moon connected with Carter for a 65-yard touchdown that produced a 33-27 win for the Vikings.


Minnesota outgained the Bears, 385 yards to 312, and had 21 first downs to Chicago’s 15. Warren Moon completed 27 of 48 passes for 306 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Cris Carter (pictured at left) caught 9 passes for 124 yards and two TDs. RB Terry Allen gained 74 yards rushing on 18 carries.

For the Bears, Steve Walsh was successful on 24 of 33 passes for 233 yards with two TDs and one picked off. Robert Green led the receivers with 6 catches for 69 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield, and ran the ball three times for 15 more yards. Lewis Tillman led the running attack with just 49 yards on 21 attempts.

Minnesota went on to place first in the NFC Central with a 10-6 record while the 9-7 Bears, along with Green Bay and Detroit, made it into the playoffs as a wild card team (officially, due to tiebreakers, they finished fourth in the division). Chicago had lost both of its games against the Vikings during the season, but avenged the losses in the Wild Card playoff by a score of 35-18. The Bears lost to the 49ers in the Divisional playoff game.

Warren Moon became the first 4000-yard passer in Vikings history, with an NFC-leading 4264. However, while he threw 18 touchdown passes, he also ranked second in the league with 19 interceptions.

Cris Carter set a new NFL record with 122 pass receptions and ranked seventh in the NFL in receiving yards with 1256. While he would duplicate the pass receiving total in ’95, Detroit’s Herman Moore broke the record with 123 catches.

Steve Walsh (pictured below) went 8-3 as the starting quarterback for the Bears, and while Moon outranked him in the passing rankings (79.9 to 77.9), Walsh had the lower interception percentage (2.3 to 3.2). However, he threw just 10 TD passes to his 8 interceptions and averaged a lowly 6.1 yards per attempt. He went back on the bench in ’95 and started a total of three games (all in 1996 with the Rams) in the remaining five years of his career.

1999: Falcons Stun Vikings in Overtime for NFC Championship

The 1998 Minnesota Vikings certainly appeared to be a championship team in the making as they rode a powerful offense to a 15-1 record that easily topped the NFC Central and set a mark with 556 points scored along the way (since topped by the 2007 Patriots). Head Coach Dennis Green’s team had benefited from the revival of 36-year-old QB Randall Cunningham’s career; after a year’s retirement and a season as a backup, he took over for the injured Brad Johnson and proceeded to lead the NFL in passing, with 3704 yards and 34 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions. He had outstanding targets in veteran WR Cris Carter (78 catches, 1011 yards) and rookie sensation Randy Moss (69 receptions, 1313 yards, and a rookie-record 17 TD catches) at the other wide receiver spot. RB Robert Smith accounted for 1187 rushing yards as well.


The Vikings easily disposed of the upstart Arizona Cardinals in the Divisional round and hosted the Atlanta Falcons at the Metrodome on January 17, 1999 for the NFC Championship.

The Falcons had won the NFC West with a 14-2 tally under Head Coach Dan Reeves. They didn’t dazzle in the ways that Minnesota did, with a run-oriented offense keyed by RB Jamal Anderson (1846 yards). Veteran QB Chris Chandler had a steady season in which he achieved career highs in passing yards (3154) and touchdown passes (25) as well as a 100.9 passer rating. Wide receivers Terance Mathis and Tony Martin both had over 60 catches and 1100 yards. The defense was unspectacular but opportunistic, leading the league in takeaways (44). Atlanta defeated the 49ers in the Divisional round to move to the NFC Championship game, where they were an 11-point underdog.

The Falcons scored on their first possession, marching 76 yards in 15 plays and getting a touchdown on a five-yard pass from Chandler to Anderson. Minnesota came right back with a 31-yard TD pass from Cunningham to Moss, evening the score at 7-7 after one quarter. The Vikings appeared to take control of the game in the second quarter, taking advantage of fumbles by Atlanta RB Harold Green and TE O.J. Santiago as they added two field goals by Gary Anderson and a one-yard touchdown run by Cunningham for a 20-7 lead.

Momentum shifted back to the Falcons late in the second quarter, however, when Cunningham fumbled the ball away. Chandler threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mathis on the first play after the turnover and the deficit was cut to 20-14 at the half.

Atlanta pulled closer in the third quarter thanks to a 27-yard Morten Andersen field goal. But the Vikings got on the board again early in the fourth quarter after a 15-play, 82 yard drive that ended with a 5-yard TD pass from Cunningham to WR Matthew Hatchette.

The Falcons came back quickly thanks to Chandler’s 70-yard pass to Martin that set up a 24-yard Andersen field goal. The Minnesota offense stalled in its next two possessions, but when they went 55 yards to set up a potentially game-clinching field goal with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, it appeared that they were on the way to the Super Bowl. However, Gary Anderson, who had not missed any of his 35 field goal attempts during the season or his four thus far in the postseason, was wide to the left on the 38-yard attempt.

Atlanta’s offense had shown great poise throughout the game, particularly in the loud Metrodome venue, and with the Vikings fans in full roar, proceeded to drive 71 yards in eight plays that culminated in Chandler’s 27-yard pass to Mathis that tied the score at 27-27 and sent the contest into overtime (pictured at top).

Minnesota received the kickoff in “sudden death”, but in two possessions was unable to effectively move the ball. Mitch Berger punted 52 yards to the Atlanta nine yard line after the second possession. Chandler, now limping from an ankle injury, provided more heroics as he hit Santiago on passes of 15 and 26 yards to move the Falcons to the Minnesota 48. The offense drove the ball in deliberate fashion down to the Vikings 21, and Morten Andersen kicked a 38-yard field goal (pictured at bottom) to give Atlanta a 30-27 win and the conference title.


The Falcons offense accounted for 427 yards to Minnesota’s 356 in the stunning victory. Chris Chandler (pictured at left) had an outstanding performance as he completed 27 of 43 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Tony Martin gained 129 yards on 5 pass receptions, while Terance Mathis caught 6 passes for 73 yards and two scores and Jamal Anderson, who also led the running attack with 67 yards on 23 carries, also caught 6 passes, for 33 yards and a TD.

Randall Cunningham (pictured above right) completed 29 of his 48 passes for 266 yards and two TDs, also having none picked off. Randy Moss and Cris Carter both caught 6 passes, with Moss gaining 75 yards and scoring once, and Carter accumulating 67 yards. Robert Smith rushed 21 times for 71 yards against the tough Falcon defense.

Afterward, many of the comments pertained to the shocking missed field goal attempt by Gary Anderson. “There's no such thing as a guarantee in football in any way, shape or form,” said Coach Dennis Green. “We had such tremendous expectations. That makes it ten times more disappointing,” added Anderson, who had not only had an outstanding season prior to the miss but was one of the great placekickers in NFL history over the course of his long career (the same could be said of Atlanta’s Morten Andersen).

Jubilant Atlanta LB Jessie Tuggle, leader of the defensive unit that performed so well, exclaimed, “We shocked the world! No one thought we would be where we are right now, playing in the NFC Championship. But not only did we come here to play in it, we came here to win it.”

The jubilation failed to extend into the Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos – the Falcons lost convincingly, 34-19. They dropped to 5-11 in 1999 and didn’t return to the playoffs until the 2002 season.

The stunning loss in the ’98 NFC Championship game cast a pall over what had arguably been the Minnesota franchise’s greatest season. The Vikings were back in ’99, but the team wasn’t as dominating and made it into the postseason as a wild card, losing in the Divisional round.