MINNEAPOLIS— The Minnesota Vikings suffered a painful failure to grab second place on Sunday evening a lopsided loss to the Detroit Lions and surrendering the NFC North and a No. 1 playoff seed.
It means the Vikings are the No. 5 seed and will play on the road during wild-card weekend, despite finishing with the second-best record in the NFC.
In the wild-card round, the Vikings will face the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Rams on the road. That game is scheduled for Monday, January 13 at 7 p.m. Central.
The Rams, who finished 10-7 to win the NFC West, were the only non-Lions team to beat the Vikings this season. In week 8, Los Angeles defeated Minnesota 30-20 thanks to a four-touchdown performance from Matthew Stafford.
If the Vikings beat the Rams, there is a scenario where they have a rematch with the Lions in the divisional round. After their bye, the Lions will play the lowest-seeded winner of wild-card weekend, so if the No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles beat the No. 7 Green Bay Packers, the No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the No. 6 Washington Commanders and the Vikings make upset the Rams, the two NFC North titans will battle again.
If the Vikings beat the Rams, other possible opponents for the divisional round include the Eagles and the Packers, the latter of which has already defeated the Vikings twice this year.
Sunday night’s loss means the Vikings will have to win at least two games in a row if they hope to reach the Super Bowl.
