The Vikings Week 13 Game Could Be Flexed
Josh Frey
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We are into the stretch of the NFL season where games can be flexed from Sunday afternoon into the Sunday night slot. It almost happened with the Cowboys/Vikings game in Week 11, but ultimately, the NFL decided to flex the Chargers/Chiefs game into the spot since both Dallas and Minnesota have Thanksgiving games this week.
It turns out the NFL made the correct decision with this flex. The Cowboys blew out Minnesota so badly that CBS eventually cut away from the game in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Chargers and Chiefs game came all the way down to the wire, capped off by a game-winning touchdown drive led by Patrick Mahomes.
Once again, though, Minnesota is in the flex discussion. This time, it revolves around the Vikings Week 13 game.
On December 4th, the Minnesota Vikings are scheduled to play host to the New York Jets. Currently, the Jets hold a 6-4 record, sitting just outside the AFC playoff picture due to tiebreakers with the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots. Meanwhile, the Vikings are firmly in the driver’s seat in the NFC North at 8-2 despite their blowout loss to the Cowboys this past weekend.
Currently, the Sunday Night Football game for Week 13 is scheduled to take place between the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys. The Colts could have made sure the game stayed in place with an upset win over the Philadelphia Eagles this week.
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Instead, the Eagles scored a touchdown in the final two minutes and escaped with a 17-16 victory on the road. The first loss of Jeff Saturday’s head coaching tenure dropped the Colts down to a record of 4-6-1. A win would have put Indianapolis a half-game out of the AFC playoffs at 5-5-1, but no cigar.
However, with the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings both coming off losses as well, there’s a much weaker case to be made for those two teams to get flexed than there was a week ago. Rather than a powerhouse matchup between a 7-3 team and a 9-1 team, both firmly in the playoffs, we get just a decent matchup between a 6-4 team on the outside looking in and an 8-2 team that has been battered with injuries.
We’ll see what the NFL decides to do, but my gut suggests that they’ll use a flex this week. However, it won’t be for Jets/Vikings. We have so many terrific matchups in Week 13 including the following:
- (6-5) Washington Commanders @ New York Giants (7-3)
- (7-3) Tennessee Titans @ Philadelphia Eagles (9-1)
- (7-3) Miami Dolphins @ San Francisco 49ers (6-4)
- (8-2) Kansas City Chiefs @ Cincinnati Bengals (6-4)
If I had to guess, it will be Titans/Eagles that gets the nod since we just saw the Chiefs get their game flexed. However, Commanders/Giants could be an interesting divisional matchup, too. Regardless, the NFL must have their decision made by Tuesday, so we’ll soon know what the verdict will be.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.