Minnesota Vikings Playoff Scenarios

The Minnesota Vikings are in the NFL playoffs for the first time since the 2012 season after trouncing the New York Giants 49-17 on a cold Sunday night at TCF Bank stadium. With a record of 10-5 on the season, the Vikings are headed to Green Bay to take on the Packers, who are also 10-5 after they were destroyed by the Arizona Cardinals 38-8 on Sunday afternoon. The winner of the matchup at Lambeau Field, which has been flexed to Sunday night, wins the NFC North Division. The Vikings last won their division in 2009. If the Vikings don’t win their division, they could be the fifth or sixth seed in the NFC Playoffs. Let’s take a look at the playoff scenarios. If the Vikings win at Green Bay, they are the NFC North Champions and would be the third seed. They would have a first round game at home where they are 6-2 on the season. They would take on the Seattle Seahawks, who are currently 9-6. Unfortunately for the Vikings, they were blown out by Seattle earlier this month at home, 38-7. The second playoff scenario is Vikings lose at Green Bay and Seattle loses to the Cardinals at Arizona, the Vikings would be the fifth seed and would play their first round playoff game at Washington, winners of the NFC East Division. The Redskins are currently 8-7 on the season. The third playoff scenario is Vikings lose at Green Bay and the Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals. The Vikings would be the sixth seed and would open the playoffs against the Packers at Green Bay. Lastly, if the Vikings and Packers play to a tie, the Vikings would be the fifth seed and would open at Washington. Ties are rare in the NFL, but the Vikings had one as recent as the 2013 season against the Packers. It’s nice to see the Vikings making the NFL Playoffs -- whether or not the Vikings will go deep is another thing. They could be pretenders as fellow Minnesota Connected writer Brent Lee as suggested in a recent article. Or, they could surprise us and go deep. The thing the Vikings should worry about right now is taking care of business at Green Bay this Sunday.   Photos courtesy of: Wikipedia