The Minnesota Vikings and the rest of the NFL kick off postseason play this weekend during the Wild Card Weekend. Minnesota holds the third seed in the opening round of the playoffs, hosting the New York Giants in Minneapolis on Sunday for a trip to the NFC Divisional Round on the line.
Although Vikings fans will be tuning into the game against the Giants on Sunday, there are other games worth watching during Wild Card Weekend. As Minnesota hopes to continue its postseason run beyond the Wild Card Round, here’s who Vikings fans should root for in the other NFC games while hoping to get the easiest path possible to the Super Bowl.
Who Vikings Fans Should Root For During Wild Card Weekend
Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET)
The first NFC game that will be interesting to watch from the perspective of Vikings fans is the matchup between the seventh-seeded Seattle Seahawks and the second-seeded San Francisco 49ers. The game will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium in California and will air on FOX.
The reason that this game is probably one of the most important contests to tune into for fans of the purple and gold is that the winner of this game will play the winner of the Vikings and Giants contest. If Minnesota wins in the Wild Card Round, that means it would either host Seattle or face San Francisco on the road in the next round.
This battle between the Seahawks and 49ers will be an interesting one, featuring two teams who are kind of unknowns right now. Everyone knows San Francisco is good, but the 49ers are down to their third-string quarterback Brock Purdy and it is unknown whether or not his strong play will continue in the playoffs. Seattle, on the other hand, is a team that has surprised many this year while being led by quarterback Geno Smith and company. It will be interesting to see if the Seahawks can continue their cinderella type run in the postseason.
For who Vikings fans should want to win this game, Seattle is the team to root for. If the Vikings and Seahawks both win during Wild Card Weekend, Minnesota will host Seattle in the NFC Divisional Round.
Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET)
The second NFC game that will take place this weekend outside of the Vikings and Giants game is the first-ever playoff game on Monday Night Football between the fifth-seeded Dallas Cowboys and the fourth-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday Night Football at Raymond James Stadium in Florida and will air on ESPN.
It’s fitting that this game is not only a battle between two close seeds, but also a contest that is set to be the first-ever Monday night postseason game displayed to the world on ESPN. For the Vikings, the outcome of this game doesn’t really impact them right now, but the winner of this game could give the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles a hard time in the NFC Divisional Round.
Both teams in this Monday Night Football game have plenty of storylines and things to watch for. When it comes to Dallas, it has taken a step back as of late in performance while raising some questions as to how legitimate Dak Prescott and the Cowboys are as the postseason begins. We all know there is always drama in Dallas, and that is the case once again this year. For Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers are a team that is very different than the Super Bowl team of a few years ago. Tampa Bay had struggled earlier on in the year, but Tom Brady and company have played well down the stretch and you can never count out TB12 in the playoffs.
For who Vikings fans should want to win in this game, let’s go with Tampa Bay to root for. Although Dallas could perhaps give Philadelphia a harder time in the NFC Divisional Round, nobody wants to root for the Cowboys and the drama that would come about with a Dallas loss would be entertaining.
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