It was the day after Christmas, in 1976, the last time one of these went well for the Vikings.
Winter sunshine and 19-degree temperatures greeted the home team for its third NFC Championship Game — and second at home — in four years. The Vikings were back after Roger Staubach's Hail Mary to Drew Pearson knocked them out of the playoffs a year earlier, and in a rematch of the 1974 NFC title game against the Los Angeles Rams, the issue was rarely in doubt.
Bobby Bryant's 90-yard touchdown return off a blocked field goal helped the Vikings build a 17-0 lead, Sammy Johnson scored a fourth-quarter touchdown after the Rams pulled within four, and the Vikings strode jubilantly off the Met Stadium playing field, winners of their third NFC title since 1973.
They couldn't have known then the gut-wrenching moments that would turn Vikings loyalists into one of the NFL's most fretful fan bases over the next 41 years: a 23-6 loss to the Cowboys in the next year's NFC title game. The Darrin Nelson drop in 1987. Gary Anderson's miss — and Dennis Green's decision to ice the NFL's most prolific offense in the final minute — in 1998. The 41-0 shellacking by the home underdog Giants in 2000. And the fumbles, the 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty and the Brett Favre interception in 2009.
The Vikings have lost five straight conference title games since 1976 — the longest active losing streak in the NFC. Only one other NFC team has a longer Super Bowl drought: the Detroit Lions, who have never won the conference. Since the Vikings last won the conference title, every NFC team other than the Lions has been to the Super Bowl at least once; the Carolina Panthers, founded in 1995, are among 11 teams who have done it at least twice.
By Sunday night, the Vikings will have either taken a sledgehammer to one of sports' most fortified barriers to glory or have added another pillar to it. They enter the NFC Championship Game as three-point favorites over the host Philadelphia Eagles, in a matchup of staunch defenses and quarterbacks who have kept things rolling, to one degree or another, since the starter went down. They will face a vociferous fan base that's endured its own share of heartbreak, with a chance to become the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl on its home field.
The Vikings are aware of the uniqueness of the opportunity, while trying not to be overwhelmed by its momentousness.
"This year we put it upon ourselves to say, 'This is our destiny,' to make it this far," defensive end Everson Griffen said. "That's what our [defensive] line coach [Andre Patterson] talks to us about all the time: This is our destiny. We've got to capitalize on the moment, go out there and do it together for one another. Hold each other accountable and just play ball.
"Football is really not that hard. The best team that takes care of the ball, doesn't turn over the ball, field position and time of possession, all the good things."
Two strong defenses
The Vikings and Eagles met at Lincoln Financial Field on Oct. 23, 2016, as two upstart contenders in the NFC who had combined to start 8-2 after the Sept. 3 trade that left both teams with new starting QBs.
Both teams turned the ball over four times as the Eagles handed the Vikings their first loss of the season, and while late-season skids kept each team out of the playoffs, the pieces were there for both to make quick turnarounds.
The Vikings defense, which ranked sixth in the league in scoring a year ago, finished atop the league in points and yards allowed this season, while the Eagles defense jumped from 12th to fourth in scoring, thanks to a front that can get pressure from several sources.
Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, who had 5½ sacks this season, was named to his third Pro Bowl. Brandon Graham leads the team with 9½ sacks, and the Eagles got another five apiece from veteran Chris Long and rookie Derek Barnett, whom Philadelphia selected with the first-round pick it got from the Vikings for Sam Bradford.
Safety Malcolm Jenkins — who was inactive for the Vikings' last NFC Championship Game as a rookie with the Saints — shows the same kind of versatility for the Eagles as Harrison Smith does for the Vikings, playing near the line of scrimmage as an extra run defender while blitzing more than all but two safeties in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
"What doesn't stand out with that guy?" quarterback Case Keenum said. "He's a guy we're going to have to account for, wherever he's at, what he's doing and what he's trying to do, because he does a good job disguising it, too. They have him playing everywhere, covering anybody at any time. He's a great player they trust a lot."
Preparing for Eagles' run/pass options
The offense the Vikings will face on Sunday is fundamentally the same one that was used to maximize the talents of Carson Wentz, the North Dakota State product Philadelphia selected second overall in 2016. Wentz's MVP-caliber performance in 2017 is a major reason why the Eagles won 13 games, and the Eagles have had to simplify their offense to some degree, coach Doug Pederson said this week, with Nick Foles now the QB and Wentz out because of a torn ACL.
But the Eagles will still lean on many of the same offensive principles they have used all season — which means the Vikings will see plenty of the run/pass option plays Philadelphia adapted from college offenses.
It helped Philadelphia's stable of four running backs — Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood — create the NFL's third-best running attack.
"I haven't seen it all too much except for Philly," linebacker Anthony Barr said. "I saw them a lot in the Pac-12. But they do it at a high level, they've got it figured out. They have a really good system. They were really successful with it last week and have been all year, really. It's going to be a big challenge."
Bringing it home
A victory would put the Vikings in the Super Bowl for the first time since the game transformed into the modern spectacle that it is, and the snow projected to blanket the Twin Cities on Monday would provide the perfect backdrop to kick off a two-week lovefest between a state and its team, as the metro area is transformed into the stage for the whole thing.
The Vikings aren't just trying to end a 41-year absence from the Super Bowl. They are trying to realize the scenario every fan base dreams about when its team's stadium is scheduled to host the game. Sixty minutes away from making it happen, they are claiming not to be awed by the stakes.
"I'm good," coach Mike Zimmer said. "To me, it's a normal week: Just go out and play, prepare like we always do."
Will Sunday night yield new Bobby Bryants and Sammy Johnsons, or new Gary Andersons and Naufahu Tahis? We're about to find out.