Have a Look at the Vikings’ Playoff Math

The Detroit Lions were expected to win the division outright heading into Week 1 until Minnesota showed up for a surprise 5-0 start. Detroit has since reclaimed the NFC North lead and the summer forecasts feel accurate. The Vikings will play the Lions in Week 18, which could be for all the marbles. We shall see.

If Minnesota wins on Sunday, they can clinch at least a Wildcard playoff spot with a Los Angeles Rams loss versus the Buffalo Bills and a Seattle Seahawks win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Minnesota’s schedule becomes much more difficult this week and beyond, taking on the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions in the next five weeks.

Sportsbooks = 99.9%

99.9%

This site takes a more rudimentary approach to the calculation, not necessarily factoring in predictive performance. But in the interest of fairness and sheer math, PlayoffStatus.com was included for a broader view.

Power Rankings Guru = 99.9%

This ranking tool defines itself as follows: “Our NFL playoff probabilities are calculated by averaging predictions from numberFire, ESPN, and Team Rankings. The table above shows the preseason and current playoff probabilities for each team. The change in these two predictions is also shown.”

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The Vikings have defeated the Falcons five times in six attempts during the last decade.

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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. 

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.