NFC Championship Game Appearance (2004)
The road to the Super Bowl runs through the NFC Championship.
The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL). 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.
- Opponent
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Venue
- Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Lore & Background
The game was established as part of the 1970 merger between the NFL and the American Football League (AFL). Since 1984, each winner of the NFC Championship Game has also received the George Halas Trophy. The first NFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season. Every NFC team has played in an NFC Championship at least once. The San Francisco 49ers have the most losses (11), most appearances (19), and have hosted the most (11). Both the Dallas Cowboys and 49ers have won the most NFC Championships at 8 each. The Los Angeles Rams are the only NFC team to appear in at least one NFC Championship game in every decade since 1970.
In Their Own Story
The air inside the Georgia Dome hummed with tension on that cold January night. Michael Vick paced the sideline, his eyes scanning the field where the green turf seemed endless under the bright lights. The crowd roared as he took the snap, looking for an opening in a defense designed to stop him. Every play felt like a battle for redemption, but the scoreboard told a different story, freezing the memory of what could have been.
Reader's Guide
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. The two teams remaining following the Wild Card round and the Divisional round play in the NFC Championship Game. Since the 1975–76 season, the site of the game has been based on playoff seeding, 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.
Did You Know?
- The Detroit Lions have yet to win or host an NFC Championship Game.
- The Seattle Seahawks hold the distinction of appearing in both the AFC and NFC conference title games.
- The George Halas Trophy was redesigned by Tiffany & Co. for the 2010–11 playoffs to more closely resemble the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
More in Honours & Records
Elsewhere in the Atlanta Falcons universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record