How the Vikings can get the 2, 3 or 5 seed in the playoffs
Having already locked in a playoff spot, the Vikings might not know their seed until the 49ers and Seahawks meet on Sunday Night Football to wrap up Week 17 of the regular season.
Minnesota can finish with the 2nd, 3rd, 5th or 6th seed depending on how things shake out over the next eight days, starting with Monday night's border battle inside U.S. Bank Stadium against the Packers.
If the Vikings lose Monday night, they will be locked into the No. 6 seed. If the Vikings win, a whole world of possibilities exist entering the final week of the regular season. Here's how the Vikings can get the No. 2, No. 3 or No. 5 seed.
None of the below scenarios include games ending in ties.
Vikings get the No. 2 seed
- Vikings win out to finish 12-4
- 49ers (13-3) beat the Seahawks (11-5)
- Packers (11-5) lose to Lions.
- Saints (12-4) lose to Panthers.
According to ESPN's Playoff Machine, that would set up an NFC playoff picture with the 49ers and Vikings earning the top two seeds and first-round byes, with Packers (6 seed) playing at the Saints (3 seed) and the Seahawks (5 seed) at the Eagles or Cowboys (4 seed) on wild-card weekend.
Vikings get the No. 3 seed
- Vikings win out to finish 12-4
- Packers lose out to finish 11-5
- Saints beat the Panthers to finish 13-3
- 49ers-Seahawks winner doesn't matter in this scenario.
That would set up a first-round playoff matchup between the Vikings and Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings get the No. 5 seed
- Vikings win out to finish 12-4
That's it. Nothing more would matter as the 49ers, Seahawks, Packers and Saints would all be vying for the top three seeds, with the 49ers or Seahawks loser getting the No. 6 seed.
As the 5 seed, Minnesota would be headed to Philadelphia or Dallas for a wild-card weekend playoff game.
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.