Week 15 Worked Out Well Enough for the Vikings and Their Playoff Hopes
The Minnesota Vikings had a chance to improve to 8-6 on Saturday and keep their one-game lead over the chase pack in the NFC.
Ultimately, that did not happen because of their overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15. A couple poor interceptions from Nick Mullens in the first half, a defensive collapse in the second half, and a couple strange QB sneaks in overtime sealed their fate this weekend.
However, at the end of the day, the results of Week 15 didn’t necessarily change a ton for the Vikings and their playoff hopes. Despite losing three of their past four games, Minnesota remains in control of the No. 6 seed in the NFC, and they still have an outside shot at winning the NFC North.
Week 15 Worked Out Well Enough for the Vikings’ Playoff Hopes
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first, though. Minnesota is now sitting in a three-way tie at 7-7 with both the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints with three weeks to go. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also sit at 7-7, but they hold a tiebreaker over the Saints and lead the NFC South, so they are not Minnesota’s concern right now.
The Rams knocked off the Washington Commanders on Sunday by a score of 28-20 behind a strong performance from Kyren Williams, who rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, New Orleans’ defense dominated the Giants en route to a 24-6 win at home.
This weekend, the Rams and Saints are set to face off at SoFi Stadium, so one of these teams will be 8-7 by the end of Christmas Eve (unless we see our first tie of the season), meaning the Vikings absolutely need to win against the Lions in order to remain ahead of both teams in the standings.
The Detroit Lions also cruised to a win over the Denver Broncos and moved to three games ahead of Minnesota in the NFC North standings. The Vikings now need to win out, and the Lions need to lose out in order for Minnesota to capture their second consecutive NFC North title.
Luckily, two of the final three weeks will feature games between Detroit and Minnesota, so the Vikings control two-thirds of their own destiny. The only time the two teams will not play comes in Week 17 when the Lions travel to Dallas and take on the Dallas Cowboys.
On the positive side of things, both the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons lost on Sunday, meaning they fell to 6-8 and remain a game behind the Vikings in the playoff race. Green Bay’s defense allowed the Buccaneers to score 34 points and over 450 yards of total offense at Lambeau Field.
If the Vikings win this weekend and defeat the Packers at home in Week 17, they will be guaranteed to remain ahead of Green Bay in the standings, thus eliminating one of their contenders for a Wild Card seed.
In the end, Minnesota still controls their own destiny to a Wild Card spot, and they still have a chance to end the year with the NFC North crown. Even with their loss, the Vikings hold a 51.2% chance of making the playoffs according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.