Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Vikings' top plays: Wide left

This is the third of three plays nominated as the most memorable play in Vikings history, following Brett Favre's interception in the 2010 NFC Championship Game and Tommy Kramer's Hail Mary pass to Ahmad Rashad to beat the Cleveland Browns in the 1980 "Miracle at the Met." Please vote for your choice as the Vikings' most memorable play.

Score: Falcons 30, Vikings 27

Date: Jan. 17, 1999 Site: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

Description: Behind rejuvenated quarterback Randall Cunningham and rookie receiver Randy Moss, the Minnesota Vikings had rolled through the league in 1998, scoring 556 points on the way to a 15-1 record. They had beaten the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC divisional playoffs the week before, and were 11-point favorites to beat the Falcons and advance to Super Bowl XXXIII. For weeks, a local radio station had been playing a parody of Will Smith's "Miami," with lyrics suggesting a trip to South Florida for the Super Bowl was inevitable.

The Vikings had a 13-point lead in the first half and a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, and after they stopped the Falcons on fourth down from the Minnesota 24, the Vikings had a seven-point lead and the ball with 6:07 left. They drove to Atlanta's 21 with 2:18 to play, and put kicker Gary Anderson on the field, needing only a 38-yard field goal to go up 10. But Anderson -- who had not missed a field goal or an extra point all season and had become the first kicker ever to have a perfect regular season -- yanked the field goal left, and the Falcons drove 71 yards in eight plays, tying the game on a Chris Chandler touchdown to Terance Mathis (Vikings fans will point out that safety Robert Griffith dropped what would have been a game-ending interception in the end zone four plays before the touchdown).

Minnesota had the ball on its own 27 with 37 seconds left in regulation when coach Dennis Green ordered Cunningham to take a knee, grounding the most prolific offense in the game, and Anderson never got a chance to atone for his miss; two Vikings drives sputtered in overtime, and Falcons kicker Morten Andersen sent Atlanta to its first Super Bowl with a field goal from 38 yards: the same distance from which Anderson had missed.

The Vikings have lost five NFC title games since their last Super Bowl appearance in 1977, but it's tough to suggest any one hurts more than their 1999 loss. The Vikings had the most dominant offense in the league, and all they needed to effectively lock up a Super Bowl trip was for Anderson to make one more kick. Instead, that kick drifted left.

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