Aug 3, 2023; Eagan, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell and owner Ziggy Wilf talk at training camp at TCO Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports.
The Minnesota Vikings’ Week 15 game isn’t until Monday night, one of the final games on the schedule.
But no matter what, the game docket has already turned out brilliantly for Minnesota.
The purple team has a chance to climb toward a 12-2 record on Monday Night Football, a showdown at home against the Chicago Bears that it’s favored to win by a touchdown.
And heading into that matchup, Vikings players can be all smiles for these reasons.
Vikings fans had a Sunday Night Football scenario where they could spin the outcome no matter what.
Of course, those folks cheered against the Green Packers in a contest at the Seattle Seahawks. Vikings faithful always wish the worst on the cheese team. Had Green Bay lost, Minnesota would’ve taken a 2.5-game lead over the Packers, with Jordan Love and friends possibly slipping near the bottom of the playoff race.
And if Green Bay won — it did — the Vikings would be in the postseason tournament. A win win.
The latter occurred as Seattle’s operation flailed and often looked embarrassing. In fact, Minnesota will play Seattle at the same building in six days, and the Seahawks might be without quarterback Geno Smith, who was injured versus Green Bay.
When Sunday Night Football concluded, the Packers achieved a 10-4 record and stamped the Vikings’ ticket to meaningful January football. Minnesota is in. Nobody can reverse it.
Before Seahawks-Packers, the Buffalo Bills battered and bruised the Detroit Lions at Ford Field for most of the game. Detroit, through garbage time, made the game close late, but Buffalo held on 44-42.
Minnesota needed a single Lions loss to hold out home for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
That hope has arrived.
If the Vikings win their following four games, they’d gain a 1st-Round bye and undisputed homefield advantage in the postseason. There won’t be room for error — if Minnesota loses to Chicago on MNF, for example, the Bills win over the Lions would be for nil — but it’s all up to the Vikings now.
Kevin O’Connell’s team needed one crack in the Lions’ tight infrastructure, which happened on Sunday versus Buffalo. Cue the “control their own destiny” talkers for Minnesota.
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.