Here's how the Vikings can get a pick in the top 10 of the NFL draft
The Vikings are walking the NFL tightrope, and with two weeks left in the regular season, we'll soon find out which way they fall.
If they fall to the left, it could mean a top-10 pick in the NFL draft. If they fall to the right, it could mean a trip to Detroit or Philadelphia on Wild Card Weekend.
Their path to the playoffs is simple: Win out against the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions while the Los Angeles Rams or Seattle Seahawks lose at least one of their final two games. Minnesota's road to the top 10 in the NFL draft is a bit more complicated.
If the draft were today, the Vikings would have the 15th pick.
- Chicago (from Carolina) 2-13
- Arizona 3-12
- Washington 4-11
- New England 4-11
- NY Giants 5-10
- LA Chargers 5-10
- Tennessee 5-10
- Chicago 6-9
- NY Jets 6-9
- Atlanta 7-8
- New Orleans 7-8
- Green Bay 7-8
- Las Vegas 7-8
- Denver 7-8
- Minnesota 7-8
If the Vikings lose Sunday night to the Packers while Atlanta, New Orleans and Las Vegas all win, the Vikings will jump to the 10th pick, perhaps even to the ninth pick if the New York Jets beat the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.
How realistic is that? Not very.
Atlanta, New Orleans and Las Vegas are all road underdogs this week. The Denver Broncos are favored at home against the Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota is a two-point favorite at home against Green Bay.
But let's live in the hypothetical world where the Vikings lose and all of those teams win. Minnesota would be 7-9 and it would set the stage for the final week of the regular season, with the Vikings simply needing to lose in Detroit to secure a top-10 pick.
Minnesota owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Atlanta, New Orleans and Las Vegas, so the key to a pick in the top 10 or near No. 10 is pretty much just losing out and not finishing in a tie with those three teams.
If it comes down to Week 18, these are the games that will be worth monitoring:
- Vikings at Lions
- Bears at Packers
- Broncos at Raiders
- Falcons at Saints
A top-10 pick would be great for Minnesota's chances of drafting a franchise quarterback, but the most fun option for the near future is winning out and wreaking a bit of havoc in the playoffs.
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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.