After not getting all of the necessary help to wrap up a playoff spot last week, the Minnesota Vikings are on the precipice of securing their spot this week. To that end, there are three games of interest for Vikings fans on the schedule this week, any of which could secure Minnesota’s return to the postseason.
The easiest and most direct path, as you’d expect, is for the Vikings to beat the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football this week. If they can win that game (or any of the four remaining games on their schedule), they will officially get into the playoffs. However, this is the last game of the week in Week 15, and it would be sort of nice if the Vikings could secure a spot ahead of that matchup.
The first opportunity will come on Thursday Night Football, when the red-hot Los Angeles Rams make a trip up the West Coast to Levi’s Stadium to take on the San Francisco 49ers. If the Rams should lose this one, the Vikings will officially be locked into the playoffs. It might be a bit of a tall order for a San Francisco team that has had to deal with a ton of injuries over the past few weeks, but that will be the first opportunity.
The other opportunity will come in another prime time game, specifically Sunday Night Football when the Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers. If Green Bay can go into Seattle and win, then the Vikings will clinch a playoff spot if didn’t already happen on Thursday night. Now, that certainly isn’t enough to compel me to cheer for Green Bay in this one, because why would I do that? But, if they do win, clinching a playoff spot will be a decent consolation prize.
In summary, the Vikings can wrap up a spot in the 2024 NFL playoffs with a victory of their own on Monday night, and there’s a chance they can have one secured by as early as Thursday evening. Hopefully at least one of those three things will break their way during the course of this week of football.