Vikings NFC North division title temporarily delayed

The Minnesota Vikings, once again, pulled out a thrilling one-score victory on Sunday afternoon, defeating the New York Jets by a score of 27-22 at U.S. Bank Stadium. However, they didn’t get the help they needed to punch their tickets to the NFC playoffs.

The Detroit Lions throttled the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 40-14 at Ford Field, denying the Vikings the other part of the equation that they needed to wrap up a playoff berth in Week 13.

With the Vikings winning, however, their “magic number” for winning the NFC North has been reduced to one. That means that, in order for the Vikings to not win the NFC North this season, both of the following things need to happen:

1. The Minnesota Vikings need to go 0-5 over their final five games.
2. The Detroit Lions need to go 5-0 over their final five games.

Any other scenario results in the Vikings clinching the NFC North for the first time since 2017.

This means that the Philadelphia Eagles might still have a chance to beat Minnesota into the NFC playoff field. With today’s results so far, the Eagles will clinch a playoff berth if both the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers lose. Otherwise, no NFL teams will clinch playoff berths this week.

The Vikings can put a stop to all of the drama. . .what little bit there is. . .in Week 14 when they make their annual trip to Ford Field to finish their home-and-home series with Detroit for this season. The Vikings beat Detroit at U.S. Bank Stadium back in Week 3, and completing the sweep would make their NFC North title for this season official.

So, the Vikings will be winning the NFC North this season. . .it’s now just a matter of when.