Week 14 was darn near perfection for the Minnesota Vikings. They smoldered their way to a 3-0 win in Las Vegas while the rest NFC teams fighting for playoff positioning fell on their faces.
The Packers (6-7) lost to Tommy DeVito and the Giants. Seattle (6-7) went down to the 49ers. The Rams (6-7) fought but fell in Baltimore. And the mess in the NFC South rendered three teams – Buccaneers, Falcons and Saints – all at 6-7.
Entering Week 15, when the Vikings play the Bengals on Saturday, the Vikings (7-6) own the No. 6 seed in the NFC. Green Bay is seventh while the Rams, Seahawks, Falcons and Saints are all on the outside looking in. The Bucs own tiebreakers to sneak in as the NFC South leader.
According to SumerSports, the Vikings’ playoff chances increased to 58.4% along with a 10.5% chance to win the NFC North. The latter scenario requires the Vikings basically winning out, beating the Lions (9-4) twice along the way.
Green Bay’s playoff chances are actually higher, at 71.3%, despite having a worse record than Minnesota. That’s likely a factor of an easier schedule with their final four games against the Bucs, Panthers (1-2), Vikings and Bears (5-8).
Another thing to point out is that the Vikings and Lions are still on track to potentially play three times in four weeks. They meet in Minneapolis on Christmas Eve, in Detroit two weeks later and if the playoffs started today they would face each other as the 6 and 3 seeds on Wild Card Weekend.
Lots can still change and these games in Week 15 will matter.
- Vikings at Bengals, 12 p.m. Saturday
- Broncos at Lions, 7:15 p.m. Saturday
- Buccaneers at Packers, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Giants at Saints, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Falcons at Panthers, 12 p.m. Sunday
- Commanders at Rams, 3:05 p.m. Sunday
- Eagles at Seahawks, 7:15 p.m. Monday
