What Vikings-Lions means for NFC standings in Week 18
The Vikings face the Lions in Detroit on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture.
Game result: It was close initially, but the Lions eventually pulled away and downed the Vikings in the regular season finale, 31-9. That means the Lions have the top seed in the conference, a first-round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the next two rounds. The Vikings will drop to the fifth seed and will travel in the wild card round to face the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, Jan. 13.
The 2024-25 NFL regular season comes to a close on Sunday, and the final day wraps up with the biggest game of the year. Most of the playoff field is set, but the top of the NFC bracket has one more game to determine who gets home field advantage. The Detroit Lions will host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, with kickoff scheduled for 8:20 p.m. ET.
The Lions are coming off a 40-34 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17. They’ve won two straight and 13 of their past 14 games. The Vikings are coming off a 27-25 win over the Green Bay Packers and have won nine straight. Detroit is a 2.5-point favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Vikings-Lions playoff picture
This one is as straightforward as they come. Both teams are 14-2 and tied atop the NFC North. The Lions have the tiebreaker edge due to winning the Week 7 contest between these two teams. However, tiebreakers won’t factor into this one. The winner of this game will finish a game clear of the loser.
The winner will take home the division title, but more importantly, will claim the No. 1 seed in the NFC standings. That means they will get the conference’s first round bye and home field in the next two rounds if they last that far.
The winner will face the No. 7 seed, which will be either the Green Bay Packers or Washington Commanders. Those two teams are tied and Washington holds the tiebreaker for the No. 6 seed. The loser will be the No. 5 seed and travel to face the No. 4 seed in the Wild Card round. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently hold that spot, but have not yet clinched a playoff berth. The No. 4 seed is likely to be either the Bucs or the Atlanta Falcons depending on Week 18 results. However, if the Bucs win and the currently No. 3 seed Los Angeles Rams lose to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, then the loser of Vikings-Lions would face the Rams in the first round.
Tiebreaker implications
There are no tiebreaker implications.