The race for the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed and first-round bye is down to two teams entering Week 17.
The Detroit Lions (13-2) are in the pole position, as they have been for months, but the Minnesota Vikings (13-2) have quietly kept pace throughout. If the Vikings can beat the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, they’ll turn next week’s date with the Lions at Ford Field into a winner-takes-all battle for both the NFC North title and No. 1 seed in the playoffs, with the loser getting the No. 5 seed and a road game on wild-card weekend as a consolation prize.
The stakes are massive this week, especially for Minnesota. If the Vikings fall to the Packers on Sunday, they could be home watching as the Lions sew up the division and No. 1 seed on Monday Night Football against a San Francisco 49ers team that has already been eliminated from playoff contention. The Vikings would need the Lions to lose at Levi’s Stadium to stay in the hunt, in that scenario.
A Vikings win over the Packers on Sunday, however, changes everything. That result would essentially make Detroit’s game at San Francisco meaningless. Even if Detroit were to lose to the 49ers following a Vikings win, the Lions would still clinch the No. 1 seed with a win over Minnesota in Week 18. In short: The Vikings have no clinching scenarios in Week 17, but the Lions do, as long as Minnesota loses to Green Bay.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell was asked by reporters if his approach to Monday’s game would change based on the Vikings-Packers result, and he gave the most Dan Campbell answer ever:
Yeah, I’ll make this easy for everybody, that way all the critics can jump out and start attacking. But that way, you don’t have to debate them anymore. We’re bringing everything we’ve got to this game, and we are playing… I don’t care what it looks like, and where it’s at, and who’s this, who’s that… we’re going out to play and win this game out on the West Coast. So, there you go.
So there you have it, the Lions don’t plan to take their foot off the gas pedal, no matter how Minnesota’s game with the Packers plays out. That approach has worked for Campbell all along in Detroit, so it comes as no surprise that he won’t be scoreboard watching on Sunday.
The race for the NFC’s No. 1 seed has been fun to follow, with the Philadelphia Eagles (12-3) firmly in the hunt until last week’s brutal loss to the Washington Commanders. It’s now a two-team race, and would be fitting if nothing’s clinched until a winner walks off Ford Field in Week 18.
