Jan 1, 2023; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings fans. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports.
The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, 41-17, bungling the NFC’s No. 2 playoff seed and enabling the Packers to possibly reach the postseason.
If Green Bay topples the Detroit Lions at home this Sunday night, the Packers will be in the playoffs after starting the 2022 season with a 4-8 record. You can’t make this stuff up.
Well, because Minnesota dropped the ball in Wisconsin and did not prevent a Packers trip to the postseason, Vikings fans could be in an awkward spot next weekend — cheering for the Packers. Some fans live and die by an “I’ll never cheer for the Packers” motto, a fair life slogan. However, in the interest of pragmatism, Vikings loyalists may have no choice.
Here’s the deal: San Francisco will likely win at home this Sunday versus the bottom-feeding Arizona Cardinals. The win would lock the Vikings in the No. 3 seed, establishing a date with the New York Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium on Wildcard Weekend.
Moreover, if the Packers beat the Lions on Sunday Night Football, Green Bay would stamp a road playoff ticket to San Francisco on that same Wildcard Weekend.
That’s where the fun starts.
Foremost, one would have to assume the Vikings will defeat the Giants at home, which is probably a dangerous prediction. The Giants are hungry, well-coached, and anxious for redemption after losing to the Vikings in the same building two weeks ago. But if Minnesota does win in Round 1 of the playoffs — and wants to have another playoff game at U.S. Bank Stadium — it needs the Packers to beat the 49ers in Santa Clara. Accordingly, the Vikings would host the winner of Buccanneers-Cowboys in the Divisional Round.
For the “never Packers” crowd — you guys are an impressive, righteous group and don’t you forget it — your alternative is the Vikings traveling to Santa Clara for a date with the 49ers at their house in Round 2 of the postseason.
Ergo, choose your fighter: Cheer for the Packers to enable a second home playoff game for the Vikings — or desire a Vikings road matchup with the blazingly hot 49ers. Those are the stakes.
The Vikings and Packers cannot meet in the 2nd Round of the playoffs but could theoretically play in the NFC Championship if several dominoes fell. You wouldn’t be rooting for an eminent Vikings-Packers matchup while cheering for Green Bay over San Francisco, but the two clubs could hypothetically meet for the all the marbles at U.S. Bank Stadium.
So, it’s gut-check time because this scenario is likely coming to fruition. The only real hiccup would be a surprise victory by Dan Campbell’s Lions at Lambeau this weekend. Otherwise, you must ponder what is important — Vikings homefield advantage in Round 2 or your Packers hatred.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).