Popular Vikings Theory Might Have Been Wrong
The Minnesota Vikings pounded the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, winning by 18 and extending the current win streak to seven games.
Popular Vikings Theory Might Have Been Wrong
The purple team has a 12-2 record through 15 weeks and can legitimately win the NFC North, plus earn the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed with three more wins.
Meanwhile, one popular Vikings theory that circulated on social media for about two weeks might have been wrong. Minnesota’s Week 17 contest at home against the Green Bay Packers was not flexed out of the early afternoon slot when the NFL made a flurry of Week 17 tweaks on Tuesday.
The NFL announced Tuesday morning, “The Week 17 Atlanta Falcons at Washington Commanders game will be played on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The Miami Dolphins at Cleveland Browns matchup will move to 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS. The Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants game will be played at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX. NFL Network will feature a tripleheader on Saturday: Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots at 1:00 p.m. ET, Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals at 4:30 p.m. ET and Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams at 8:00 p.m. ET.”
Some “plugged-in” Vikings-themed accounts on X, for example, insisted that Packers at Vikings could or would be flexed into the late afternoon window. The announcement made no mention of the showdown. For now, Vikings-Packers on Sunday, December 29th, is locked into what some fans in the Midwest call “the noon window.”
Keeping Vikings-Packers in its original spot is also a signal that Minnesota’s Week 18 matchup at the Detroit Lions — which could be for all the marbles in the NFC North and possibly the No. 1 seed in the NFC — might be flexed into primetime. The NFL may not want to flex the same team two weeks in a row and might save the Vikings for a Week 18 flex.
Minnesota wrapped up a playoff spot on Sunday night and will participate in the postseason tournament no matter what. A new development, because the Lions lost to the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, is that the Vikings could win their next three games and earn homefield advantage throughout the postseason. That’s on the table. Stay tuned.
Kevin O’Connell’s club showcases the NFL’s second-best defense at the moment and 11th-ranked offense per EPA/Play. The enterprise is balanced.
It’s worth noting that ESPN’s Kevin Seifert provided a glimmer of hope for the possible flex: “This does NOT preclude the NFL deciding to change the kickoff time of next week’s Packers-Vikings game. NFL has up until next Tuesday to decide. Could change from noon to 3:25. TBD.”
Tuesday, December 24th, appears to be the final deadline for the would-be flex.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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