NFC Championship Game

Atlanta (15-2) at Minnesota (16-1)

9:30 a.m., Channel 11

* HEAD TO HEAD: The teams haven’t met since Sept. 8, 1996, when Viking quarterback Brad Johnson, making his first NFL start, passed for 257 yards and two touchdowns to lead a come-from-behind 23-17 victory at Atlanta. The Vikings lead the series, 13-6.

* SCOUTING THE FALCONS: In preparing for their first appearance in the NFC championship game, the Falcons undoubtedly took note that the only team to beat the Vikings this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, kept the Vikings’ high-scoring offense off the field by running the ball and controlling the clock. The Falcons could possibly do the same with a lot of help from workhorse running back Jamal Anderson, who rushed for 1,846 yards and 14 touchdowns during the regular season and an additional 113 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 20-18 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The Falcon defense has given up an average of only 15.6 points in its last 10 games (all victories), but it will be severely tested by the Vikings.

* SCOUTING THE VIKINGS: The highest-scoring team in NFL history showed no sign of slowing down in last week’s 41-21 dismantling of the Arizona Cardinals. Randall Cunningham, Randy Moss, Robert Smith, Cris Carter & Co. produced three touchdowns by passing and two by rushing while racking up 26 first downs, 5.2 yards a carry and a 73% conversion rate on third downs. And the usually overlooked Viking defense, which had the second-highest turnover ratio in the NFL this season but went mostly unnoticed because of the team’s prolific offense, did its part too. Early in the second quarter, the Vikings led, 17-0, and the Cardinals had zero net yards and no first downs. The Vikings, host of the NFC championship game for the first time since 1976, have been especially proficient in the Metrodome. In nine home games this season, the Vikings have outscored the opposition by an average of 23 points.

* NOW YOU KNOW: This is the first NFC championship game in a domed stadium.

* THEY SAID IT: Viking middle linebacker Ed McDaniel: “With the kind of offense this team has, the defense may never have to win a game. Usually all we have to do is stop a team just once and the game is over.”

* THE LINE: Vikings by 11.