NFC Championship Game


The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League, the largest professional American football 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, 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 co-founder of the NFL and 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 AFL. 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, Cleveland Browns, and 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 losses in the NFC Championship Game at 11, along with most appearances at 19, and have hosted the most at 11. Both the Dallas Cowboys and 49ers have won the most NFC Championships at 8 each.
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 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 relief sculpture of various football players in the back. The Lamar Hunt Trophy, awarded to the AFC Champion, used a similar design with a sculpted AFC logo.
For the 2010–11 NFL playoffs, the two conference trophies were redesigned 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.
In recent years conference championship rings are also awarded to members of the team who wins the AFC or NFC championship since they are the winners of the conference, even though they may not necessarily follow it up with a win in the Super Bowl.
The George Halas Trophy should not be confused with the Newspaper Enterprise Association'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's George S. Halas Courage Award.
Prior to the merger in 1970, the NFL champions were awarded the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, starting in 1934.

List of NFC Championship Games

SeasonPlayoffsDateWinning teamScoreLosing teamScoreLocationStadium
1970–71January 3, 1971Dallas Cowboys 17San Francisco 49ers 10San Francisco, CaliforniaKezar Stadium
1971–72January 2, 1972Dallas Cowboys 14San Francisco 49ers 3Irving, TexasTexas Stadium
1972–73December 31, 1972Washington Redskins 26Dallas Cowboys 3Washington, D.C.RFK Stadium
1973–74December 30, 1973Minnesota Vikings 27Dallas Cowboys 10Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1974–75December 29, 1974Minnesota Vikings 14Los Angeles Rams 10Bloomington, MinnesotaMetropolitan Stadium
1975–76January 4, 1976Dallas Cowboys 37Los Angeles Rams 7Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1976–77December 26, 1976Minnesota Vikings 24Los Angeles Rams 13Bloomington, Minnesota Metropolitan Stadium
1977–78January 1, 1978Dallas Cowboys 23Minnesota Vikings 6Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1978–79January 7, 1979Dallas Cowboys 28Los Angeles Rams 0Los Angeles, California Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1979–80January 6, 1980Los Angeles Rams 9Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0Tampa, FloridaTampa Stadium
1980–81January 11, 1981Philadelphia Eagles 20Dallas Cowboys 7Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaVeterans Stadium
1981–82January 10, 1982San Francisco 49ers 28Dallas Cowboys 27San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1982–83January 22, 1983Washington Redskins 31Dallas Cowboys 17Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1983–84January 8, 1984Washington Redskins 24San Francisco 49ers 21Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1984–85January 6, 1985San Francisco 49ers 23Chicago Bears 0San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1985–86January 12, 1986Chicago Bears 24Los Angeles Rams 0Chicago, IllinoisSoldier Field
1986–87January 11, 1987New York Giants 17Washington Redskins 0East Rutherford, New JerseyGiants Stadium
1987–88January 17, 1988Washington Redskins 17Minnesota Vikings 10Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1988–89January 8, 1989San Francisco 49ers 28Chicago Bears 3Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field
1989–90January 14, 1990San Francisco 49ers 30Los Angeles Rams 3San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1990–91January 20, 1991New York Giants 15San Francisco 49ers 13San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1991–92January 12, 1992Washington Redskins 41Detroit Lions 10Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
1992–93January 17, 1993Dallas Cowboys 30San Francisco 49ers 20San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1993–94January 23, 1994Dallas Cowboys 38San Francisco 49ers 21Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1994–95January 15, 1995San Francisco 49ers 38Dallas Cowboys 28San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
1995–96January 14, 1996Dallas Cowboys 38Green Bay Packers 27Irving, Texas Texas Stadium
1996–97January 12, 1997Green Bay Packers 30Carolina Panthers 13Green Bay, WisconsinLambeau Field
1997–98January 11, 1998Green Bay Packers 23San Francisco 49ers 10San Francisco, California 3Com Park
1998–99January 17, 1999Atlanta Falcons 30Minnesota Vikings 27Minneapolis, Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
1999–00January 23, 2000St. Louis Rams 11Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6St. Louis, MissouriTrans World Dome
2000–01January 14, 2001New York Giants 41Minnesota Vikings 0East Rutherford, New Jersey Giants Stadium
2001–02January 27, 2002St. Louis Rams 29Philadelphia Eagles 24St. Louis, Missouri Edward Jones Dome
2002–03January 19, 2003Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27Philadelphia Eagles 10Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Veterans Stadium
2003–04January 18, 2004Carolina Panthers 14Philadelphia Eagles 3Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2004–05January 23, 2005Philadelphia Eagles 27Atlanta Falcons 10Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2005–06January 22, 2006Seattle Seahawks 34Carolina Panthers 14Seattle, WashingtonQwest Field
2006–07January 21, 2007Chicago Bears 39New Orleans Saints 14Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field
2007–08January 20, 2008New York Giants 23Green Bay Packers 20Green Bay, Wisconsin Lambeau Field
2008–09January 18, 2009Arizona Cardinals 32Philadelphia Eagles 25Glendale, ArizonaUniversity of Phoenix Stadium
2009–10January 24, 2010New Orleans Saints 31Minnesota Vikings 28New Orleans, LouisianaLouisiana Superdome
2010–11January 23, 2011Green Bay Packers 21Chicago Bears 14Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field
2011–12January 22, 2012New York Giants 20San Francisco 49ers 17San Francisco, California Candlestick Park
2012–13January 20, 2013San Francisco 49ers 28Atlanta Falcons 24Atlanta, GeorgiaGeorgia Dome
2013–14January 19, 2014Seattle Seahawks 23San Francisco 49ers 17Seattle, Washington CenturyLink Field
2014–15January 18, 2015Seattle Seahawks 28Green Bay Packers 22Seattle, Washington CenturyLink Field
2015–16January 24, 2016Carolina Panthers 49Arizona Cardinals 15Charlotte, North CarolinaBank of America Stadium
2016–17January 22, 2017Atlanta Falcons 44Green Bay Packers 21Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Dome
2017–18January 21, 2018Philadelphia Eagles 38Minnesota Vikings 7Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2018–19January 20, 2019Los Angeles Rams 26New Orleans Saints 23New Orleans, Louisiana Mercedes-Benz Superdome
2019–20January 19, 2020San Francisco 49ers
37Green Bay Packers 20Santa Clara, California Levi's Stadium
2020–21January 24, 2021Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31Green Bay Packers 26Green Bay, Wisconsin Lambeau Field
2021–22January 30, 2022Los Angeles Rams 20San Francisco 49ers 17Inglewood, California SoFi Stadium
2022–23January 29, 2023Philadelphia Eagles 31San Francisco 49ers 7Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2023–24January 28, 2024San Francisco 49ers 34Detroit Lions 31Santa Clara, California Levi's Stadium
2024–25January 26, 2025Philadelphia Eagles 55Washington Commanders 23Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lincoln Financial Field
2025–26January 25, 2026Seattle Seahawks 31Los Angeles Rams 27Seattle, Washington Lumen Field