After the Minnesota Vikings (8-4) fell to the Seattle Seahawks (10-2) by a score of 37-30 on Monday Night Football, hopes of a potential first-round playoff bye week are all but gone. However, with a favorable four-game schedule to close the season, the Vikings are in the driver’s seat for the six-seed in the NFC playoff race.
The Minnesota Vikings Still Control Their Playoff Destiny
Where the Vikings Currently Sit
At 8-4, the Vikings are currently the number six seed in the NFC, holding the second and final wild-card spot. They trail the Green Bay Packers (9-3) by 1.5 games in the NFC North as the Packers defeated Minnesota in Week 2. Minnesota has home dates with the Detroit Lions (3-8-1) in Week 14, the Packers in Week 16, and the Chicago Bears (6-6) to close out the season. In Week 15, they travel to Los Angeles to face an underachieving Chargers team (4-8) in their final road game of the regular season. If the Vikings go at least 3-1 in these games, they should hold off the Bears and Los Angeles Rams (7-5) who both face very tough schedules to close out their seasons. This would mean that the Vikings secure the six-seed and would be on the road for all of their potential playoff games (beginning with a trip to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers).
How They Can Get the Three-Seed and a Home Playoff Game
The Vikings still have a realistic shot of winning the NFC North. Unfortunately, it will include some scoreboard watching as they need the Packers to drop a couple of games for this to happen. If the Vikings were to win their final four games (which would include a victory over the Packers), they would need Green Bay to lose an additional game in this final stretch as well. It isn’t impossible, but the Packers will be favorites in games against the Washington Redskins (3-9), the Bears, and the Lions to close out the schedule. Green Bay, however, has lost to two sub-.500 teams already this season. This would catapult the Vikings from being road warriors to being the number three seed and securing at least one home playoff game (likely at home against the Packers).
The Last Word on the Vikings Playoff Destiny
A trip to the playoffs is all up to the Vikings. Win their games, and they will get in. Win their games and hope that the Packers drop their games, and they will win the division and play at home in U.S. Bank Stadium, where they are unbeaten this season, for at least one playoff game. The bye week would have been within reach with a victory on Monday night, but the Vikings proved that they can play with any team in the league in any venue. Four weeks from now, we’ll see if the Vikings did their part to make that possible.
