Vikings Need These 4 Teams to Win on Sunday Afternoon
Josh Frey
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Vikings fans will have to wait until Sunday night for Minnesota’s New Year’s Eve game against the Green Bay Packers.
As a result, they’ll be able to watch the entire Sunday slate of games unfold, which will reveal exactly how desperate the Vikings will be for a win over their division rivals. With a loss and a couple wins from other NFC teams in the mix, Minnesota could be eliminated by the time 2024 arrives. Here is a look at four teams that Vikings fans need to root for on Sunday, who can ensure Minnesota remains with some playoff hopes heading into Week 18.
New York Giants
The New York Giants head into this weekend with a chance to play spoiler as they play host to the surging Los Angeles Rams. LA has won five of six games since their bye week, and they have zoomed up the NFC standings into the No. 6 seed in the conference at 8-7.
The Rams can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win as well as a Seahawks loss or GB-MIN tie, so Vikings fans need to be rooting for the Giants to pull off a big upset here. New York sputtered last week after a couple solid games from Tommy DeVito, and now, they are rolling into the weekend hoping that Tyrod Taylor can end the season on a positive note.
Chicago Bears
It will sting for Vikings fans to root for the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but it needs to be done. Chicago sits at 6-9 and poses much less of a playoff threat than the 7-8 Atlanta Falcons. If Atlanta were to lose on Sunday, they would have their playoff chances drop to 6% while Chicago’s would only climb to 0.4% with a win.
The Falcons offense has looked much better with Taylor Heinicke under center rather than Desmond Ridder, so hopefully, Chicago’s defense can show up in this game like they did in Week 12 against the Vikings.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a chance to seal the NFC South with a victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. If Tampa Bay wins, it would also knock New Orleans entirely out of the playoff hunt as it would drop them to 7-9 on the year.
This would take another hat out of the wild playoff race in the NFC, which is something that would benefit the Vikings as they hope to keep their hopes alive heading into the final weekend of the year.
Pittsburgh Steelers
This might be the most vital outcome for the Vikings this weekend other than their own game against the Packers. If the Pittsburgh Steelers can knock off the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon, and the Vikings take care of business later that night, they will jump back into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed.
Pittsburgh is coming off a strong game against the Cincinnati Bengals behind the Christmas powers of QB Mason Rudolph, and he will need to replicate that showing against a tough Seahawks defense that is getting closer to fully healthy.
NOTE: This article originally appeared on our sister-site, PurplePTSD.com.
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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.
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