1998 was a year to remember for the franchise. With a spectacular offense led by quarterback Randall Cunningham (who replaced an injured Brad Johnson), running back Robert Smith, veteran wide receiver Cris Carter, and explosive rookie Randy Moss, the Vikings set a then-NFL record by scoring a total of 556 points, never scoring fewer than 24 in a game. The Vikings finished the season 15–1, their only loss was to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27–24 in Week 9. In the playoffs, the Vikings rolled past the Arizona Cardinals 41–21, and came into the Metrodome heavily favored for their NFC title showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, who had gone 14–2 in the regular season. After kicker Gary Anderson, who had just completed the first perfect regular season in NFL history (not missing a single extra point or field goal attempt the entire year), missed a 38-yard field goal attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining, the Falcons' ensuing drive tied the game. This led to a controversial decision by head coach Dennis Green to run out the clock and let the game go to overtime. Though the Vikings won the coin toss, Atlanta went on to win it 30–27 in overtime on Morten Andersen's 38-yard field goal. The Vikings became the first 15–1 team to fail to reach the Super Bowl.
1998 was a year to remember for the franchise with a spectacular offense led by quarterback randall cunningham (who replaced an injured brad johnson) running back robert smith veteran wide receiver cris carter and explosive rookie randy moss the vikings set a then-nfl record by scoring a total of 556 points never scoring fewer than 24 in a game the vikings finished the season 15–1 their only loss was to the tampa bay buccaneers 27–24 in week 9 in the playoffs the vikings rolled past the arizona cardinals 41–21 and came into the metrodome heavily favored for their nfc title showdown with the atlanta falcons who had gone 14–2 in the regular season after kicker gary anderson who had just completed the first perfect regular season in nfl history (not missing a single extra point or field goal attempt the entire year) missed a 38-yard field goal attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining the falcons' ensuing drive tied the game this led to a controversial decision by head coach dennis green to run out the clock and let the game go to overtime though the vikings won the coin toss atlanta went on to win it 30–27 in overtime on morten andersen's 38-yard field goal the vikings became the first 15–1 team to fail to reach the super bowl