NFL.com Predicts Playoff Fate for Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have an 82.4% chance of reaching the postseason, according to DVOA.
NFL.com Predicts Playoff Fate for Vikings
It’s not a longshot. In fact, if Minnesota does not reach the postseason, it will have meant the team suffered a grim collapse.
Accordingly, per NFL.com, Minnesota will likely inhabit the NFC’s sixth seed in January, destined for a road playoff game in Round 1 against the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, or perhaps the San Francisco 49ers (the NFC West is totally up in the air).
A panel of NFL.com pundits sized up the playoff chase at the NFL’s regular season midpoint this week, and its popular consensus plopped the Vikings at No. 6 in the NFC tournament. Nine percent said the fifth seed for the purple team, 55% at No. 6, and 36% claimed the Vikings would snag the No. 7 spot.
The group also unanimously noted that Detroit will take home the NFC North for a second consecutive season. “The Lions are the best team in the NFL’s best division, building a comfortable lead in the North (though Dan Campbell certainly wouldn’t categorize it as such) in part by beating the Vikings and Packers on their own turfs,” NFL.com’s collective staff wrote.
If the playoffs began today, the Vikings would own the No. 5 seed and travel to Arizona for a date with the Cardinals.
“They are the only team in the league to rank top five in scoring offense and defense, blowing away the field in point differential per game (13.8 — nearly four points better than second-placed Buffalo). With half a season to play, the Packers and Vikings (and Bears, technically) are still in play for the division title. But the majority of our analysts see Green Bay and Minnesota punching their postseason ticket as wild cards,” NFL.com added about the Lions’ apparent majesty.
Minnesota’s defense has served as the special sauce in 2024, ranking second leaguewide per EPA/Play, only trailing the upstart Los Angeles Chargers. The purple defense ranked first in the sport — by a mile — through five games until an unceremonious tumble in games versus the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams. The club, however, got back on track in Week 9 versus the Indianapolis Colts.
On offense, the enterprise has played efficiently, led by Sam Darnold, who is fully experiencing a reclamation season. The playoff seeding and subsequent postseason fate will rest on Darnold’s ability to perform in clutch situations, an emphatic unknown at the moment because Darnold has never visited the playoffs as a starter.
Oddsmakers believe the Kansas City Chiefs and aforementioned Lions will meet in the Super Bowl.
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 Vikings 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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