Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?!?

I’m going to split my reply into two parts, what will be Vikings seed be? And separately, what do I think of matchups?

#2 Seed Likelihood
With the Vikings schedule, I can see anywhere between 2-3 and 5-0, do either of those end points change much?

The Vikings going 5-0, means the Eagles would need to go 3-2 or worse against a slate of Giants, Bears, Cowboys, Saints, Giants. The Cowboys could take one in Dallas, and a split with the Giants is at least a possibility. I see much higher odds that the Vikings slip up on at least one game than the Eagles drop 3. So the 1 seed is off the table until the Vikings at least move into a tie with the Eagles.

The 2-3 end of the range of outcomes would put the Vikings at 12-5. The 49ers would need to go 4-1 against the Bucs, Seahawks, Commanders, Raiders, Cardinals. The first three are playing for their playoff lives. 4-1 is certainly a possibility, but falling to the #3 seed would require a worst case for the Vikings and best case for the 49ers.

I’ll stick with the Vikings staying in the #2 seed position.

Matchups
If the Vikings are the #2 seed, the likely matchup are: Giants, Seahawks, Commanders. If for some reason, the Vikings fall to the #3 seed, the likely opponents are: Giants, Seahawks, Commanders. That’s convenient. What could change that:

Eagles or Cowboys fall out of the #2 seed… nope, I don’t see that happening. That’s good news, because I like the Vikings over any of those potential opponents. So the Vikings are set up really well for the first round.

Looking at potential divisional round games. It’s probably more interesting for the Eagles / Cowboys than the Vikings.

The assumption is that the NFC South Champion will be the Bucs, but they still have to play both the Panthers and Falcons, so a bed sh*tting is still very much in the Card(nial)s for them. Either way, whoever come out of that hobo fight will be a Homer Simpson vs Dredrick Tatum level underdog against either the Eagles or (far more likely) Cowboys. That would set up Dallas in a 1-5 likely matchup with the Eagles in the Divisional round… looking at that, I better start stocking up on popcorn because that will be a great game.

I’ve missed the memo, but apparently the 48ers (-1 Garoppolo) have already beaten the 6 seed. So the Vikings 2/3 seed race really comes down to if the Divisional round would be in Santa Someplaceorother or Minneapolis. That’s also a pretty good matchup, and seems about even in either venue.

The worst case in the divisional round would be the 48ers remembering you need a quarterback in the playoffs and losing to the 6 Seed. Then the Vikings would host the Cowboys in the divisional round. Going through he Cowboys and Eagles back to back would be rough, but also a potential trap game for them as they droll over their interdivisional NFCCG.

If the Playoffs end up
#1 Eagles
#2 Vikings
#3 49ers
#4 [technically a playoff team]
#5 Cowboys
#6 Seahawks (I think they pass the Giants and Commanders due to schedules)
#7 Commanders / Giants

That likes up as well as can be hoped for a playoff run.

My biggest take away is that a lot of the teams above play each other and will all be playing for something.  That means every game for our potential opponents will be tough.  The addition of the #7 seed to the playoffs is benefitting us in the race for seeding.  

Yeah, that was a typo on my part. I don't see the Eagles/Cowboys falling out of the #5 seed.

This just in: Purdy will be fine!

Vikings better not slip...

Who do we beat? Do they have a low 5 wins (before today)? Cause we got our asses hand to us 3 times and one was supposed to be an easy win. We will never beat any good teams this year. But I guess those who are happy with stats and just having a winning record, will be as happy as a SB loss.

I'd give them a decent chance to beat the 6/7 seed at home, which will likely be Seattle or Washington. But after that, slim to none.

Already hearing talk about the Vikings missing the playoffs.

Obviously things are unraveling, but I don't think the Vikings will miss the playoffs.

I think we will make it but lose the first game.  The sad reality is that the Vikings are falling apart.  We will stumble into the playoffs and lose our first game.  There's no reason to think we won't.

Vikings will go how the their defense goes. Said it at the beginning of the year. If they keep playing like they did today they could easily lose the last 4 games.