Here's how the Vikings can clinch the NFC North
At 9-2, clinching the NFC North is all but a formality for the Minnesota Vikings. Detroit (4-7), Green Bay (4-7) and Chicago (3-8) are almost out of view. In fact, the Bears cannot win the division and it would take a miracle for the Lions or Packers to catch the Vikings.
Entering Sunday, the Vikings' magic number is two. Any combination of Vikings wins and Lions/Packers losses equaling two would secure Minnesota's first division title since 2019 and just their third since 2010.
The Vikings don't play Sunday since they beat the Patriots on Thanksgiving, nor do the Lions who lost to the Bills on Turkey Day. That leaves fans scoreboard watching the Packers at Philadelphia (9-1) on Sunday night.
On one hand, a Green Bay loss gets the Vikings closer to the division title. But a Packers win would boost Minnesota's chances of passing the Eagles for home-field advantage and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Clinching the North, however, is quite simple. If the Vikings reach 10 wins and the Lions and Packers get to 8 losses, the division is Minnesota's. Or if the Vikings stay at 9 wins and the Packers and Lions reach 9 losses, the division is Minnesota's.
That can happened as soon as Dec. 4, but only if the Vikings beat the Jets, the Packers lose to the Eagles or Bears, and the Lions lose to Jacksonville. That would put the Vikings at 10-2, the Packers at 4-9 or 5-8 and the Lions at 4-8. That would create a six-game cushion in the loss column with five games to go.
The Packers are eliminated if they lose to Philly on Sunday or the Bears next week and the Vikings beat the Jets. If the Vikings lose to the Jets, the Packers would still be eliminated if they lose to both the Eagles and Bears.
The Lions are eliminated if they lose to the Jaguars next week and the Vikings beat the Jets. If the Lions beat the Jaguars, they would need to beat the Vikings on Dec. 11 to avoid elimination.
The champagne is on ice. It's just a matter of which week in December the Vikings are popping bottles.
Related: How the Vikings put Dallas behind them to beat the Patriots
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.