Vikings and Falcons Pretty Much New to This Kind of Stuff

This game cries out to be played on frozen tundra, as so many classic playoff games unfolded, and to be preserved in grainy, black and white images of quarterbacks throwing into snow squalls and receivers plunging into foot-high drifts to snare passes off their frostbitten fingertips.

So much for tradition.

The closest frozen tundra to the temperature-controlled Metrodome, where the Minnesota Vikings will face the Atlanta Falcons today for the NFC championship, is beneath parking lots. And although the teams’ combined record of 31-3 (including playoffs) is the most total wins in an NFC title game since the Cowboys and 49ers had a combined 29 in 1992, their presence symbolizes a power shift away from longtime NFC titans Dallas, San Francisco and Green Bay.

The Falcons, who were 3-13 two years ago, have never gotten this far; the Vikings haven’t played for the NFC title since 1987, when they lost at Washington, and haven’t hosted a title game since 1976, when they played at open-air Metropolitan Stadium, since leveled to make way for a shopping mall.

“If Atlanta’s an upstart, we’re an upstart,” Viking Coach Dennis Green said. “We’re a good football team. Green Bay, Dallas and San Francisco are not the teams they were. We’re 15-1, but we’re not an overnight success. . . . Those teams don’t have the 15-1 and 14-2 records. They don’t have the explosive consistency we have, Atlanta has and the Denver Broncos have.”

Muffling Minnesota’s explosive offense, which scored a league record 556 points, is the key to Atlanta’s hopes of extending its 10-game winning streak and 11-0 dome record.

The Vikings, who overran Arizona, 41-21, last Sunday in their divisional playoff matchup, scored 24 or more points in every game. Although they have good balance, thanks to the slashing runs of Robert Smith (249 carries for 1,187 yards and six touchdowns) and the short-yardage work of Leroy Hoard (115 carries for 479 yards and nine touchdowns), receivers Cris Carter and Randy Moss get the most attention--and not only because Moss declared this week, “I think God flew me down on a cloud with a little halo around me.”

Heaven-sent or not, the Vikings have game-breakers in Carter, who had 78 catches for 1,011 yards and 12 touchdowns, and rookie Moss, who had 69 catches for 1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns and was first in scoring in the NFC among non-kickers with 106 points. However, the Falcons aren’t cowed.

“We’ve got to go out there and play hard-nosed, ‘Dirty Bird’ football,” linebacker Jessie Tuggle said. “That’s being aggressive, being smart but playing tough. They’re a great offensive team, but I don’t think they’ve been hit like the Falcons are going to hit them.

“There’s no way their offense can intimidate our defense, but at the same time, it’s going to be a dogfight on Sunday.”

The Falcons are likely to cover Moss with 5-foot-9 cornerback Ray Buchanan, who is seven inches shorter than Moss and six inches shorter than Carter. “I’m not concerned,” Carter said. “We’re going to do what we do best. We’ve got plays that worked for 17 games and we’re going to use those plays.”

The Falcons, whose defense ranked fourth in the NFL, live on their ball-control, clock-eating offense--a strategy employed by Tampa Bay in the Vikings’ only loss. The Buccaneers ran for 246 yards and kept the ball for more than 33 minutes, so the Falcons know it can be done.

Doing it today, however, is another matter.

“We looked at the film, for sure,” Tuggle said. “Tampa Bay played very aggressively. It’s going to be tough for our defense and we know we’ve got to play as hard as we possibly can and play error-free, and if we do, we should do pretty well.”

Atlanta’s defense ranked fourth in the league with an average of 18 points a game and was first in takeaways, with 44. Minnesota ranked sixth defensively at 18.5 points a game, and fifth in takeaways with 34. The Falcons, who defeated the 49ers, 20-18, last Sunday, have an excellent pass rush, but Minnesota has three Pro Bowl players on its offensive line in left tackle Todd Steussie, left guard Randall McDaniel and center Jeff Christy. That will make it difficult to pressure quarterback Randall Cunningham.

Atlanta’s offense has been its best defense. The Falcons led the NFL in time of possession at 33 minutes 10 seconds, largely due to Jamal Anderson’s 1,846 yards in a league-record 410 carries. Quarterback Chris Chandler--like Cunningham a recycled veteran who is enjoying unprecedented success--found receivers Tony Martin and Terance Mathis 130 times, and the pair will challenge Minnesota’s risk-loving secondary.

“They’ve got a pretty good running back and a pretty good quarterback. I guess their defense has been playing well. They’re a team that matches up well against us,” said Viking Pro Bowl defensive tackle John Randle, who has a sprained knee and will play but probably won’t start. “We faced some great running backs over the season and we’re up for the challenge.

“We have to win these last four quarters. If we do, it looks good for us, and if we don’t, everyone is going to say this season was a fluke and that running back beat us.”

The teams are evenly matched in many areas. They both have record-setting kickers in Minnesota’s Gary Anderson (no misses in 35 field-goal and 59 point-after attempts this season) and Atlanta’s Morten Andersen, who has made 78.6% of his career field-goal attempts. Cunningham compiled a league-leading 106.0 rating this season and Chandler was fourth at 100.9. And their coaches are well-seasoned: Green has coached in the playoffs in nine of the past 10 seasons with San Francisco and Minnesota, and Atlanta’s Dan Reeves has 46 games’ playoff experience with the Broncos, Giants and Falcons.

The decisive factor may be the dome. Minnesota’s rollicking fans are sure to reach a fever pitch--if they’re not worn out from celebrating Saturday’s inauguration of Gov. Jesse Ventura.

“I think that’s going to be the key, our ability to handle adverse conditions,” Reeves said. “Hopefully, that’s something we’ll handle well. We’ve practiced well but that wasn’t under any pressure. . . .

“They’ve got home-field advantage and they worked hard for it. We worked hard too, but 14-2 wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to worry about ourselves. I’ll take my chances as long as we play as well as we’re capable.”

Today’s Games: Atlanta at Minnesota; 9:30 a.m., Ch. 11