The season ended when the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns in the NFL championship game, earning the right to face the American Football League's champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. This was the last awarding of the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy to the NFL champion; it was introduced 35 years earlier in 1934. As was the case the previous season, the NFL champion was not crowned as the "world champion" because of the Vikings' 23–7 loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. This occurrence can no longer happen, as the AFL and the NFL completed their merger the following season (), realigned into two 13-team conferences (AFC, NFC) in one league (the NFL), with the conference champions meeting in the Super Bowl.