What are the Vikings’ percentage chances to make the playoffs after beating the Panthers Sunday?
Joe Johnson
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What are the Vikings’ percentage chances to make the playoffs after beating the Panthers Sunday?
After a devastating loss to the lowly Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings’ playoff chances fell to 1-in-5, or for those of you who went to Sadie Hawkins with their TI-83, 20%. That was a rough blow as many had assumed/presumed the surging Vikings were essentially 7-5, considering they’d reached the softest three-game stretch of their 2020 schedule.
Between the Cowboys, Panthers, and Jags, the Vikings momentarily felt very much in control of their playoff destiny. So, it isn’t hyperbole to say that yesterday’s game against the Panthers was a must-win (if the Vikings still planned to make the playoffs and atone for their hopeful lapse against the Cowboys).
While it wasn’t pretty, there was a lot to feel confident about in a game that was a missed field goal away from being another loss for the Vikings. But, how much did their playoff chances improve after Sunday?
The win improved Minnesota to 5-6 on the season. Per FiveThirtyEight, which has never been wrong before…Cough noise…The wild win increased the Vikings’ playoff chances from 20% to 31%. For those of you who got denied by their TI-83 after Sadies, that’s nearly a 1-in-3 chance.
That’s hardly shoe-in status, and seems a bit low considering the fact that there is a ton of parity in the NFC this season. Both the Bucs and Cardinals lost Sunday, leaving the Vikings a game out of the 7th-and-final seed (for now) in the National Football Conference.
If the Vikings come through and best the one-win Jags next weekend their chances don’t improve much, either, jumping 5%. For those of you who trusted your TI-83 enough to start a family with them even though those kids looked more like the offspring of that abacus she it swore it was just friends with, that’s only a 36% chance.
While there’s still a lot of season left to play, it is looking like the Vikings will have to go 4-1 or 5-0 down the stretch to make it in. That’s a pretty thing margin of error for a team that nearly gave away another game against an inferior opponent Sunday.
At least we have those alimony payments from the good people at Texas Instruments, and the favorite aspect of every Vikings fans’ outlook, next season. That sounds pessimistic, but as we saw yet again against the Panthers this Vikings offense is elite.
Add some consistency on defense and special teams and they might actually have something here. If only that consistency came in a year in which, again, the NFC has no real front runner/s).