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Vikings-Lions next week is for all the marbles: NFC North title, No. 1 seed

Posted on December 30, 2024 - 9:01 am by

It isn’t official yet, but this is absolutely going to be the Sunday Night Football game.

The Vikings’ win over the Packers sets up the game of the year in the NFL next Sunday. Regardless of what happens in the Lions’ game against the 49ers on Monday night, it’ll be the Vikings and Lions battling for all the marbles at Ford Field in Detroit one week from today.

The Vikings are 14-2. The Lions probably will be too. The winner of next week’s regular season finale wins the NFC North and gets the No. 1 seed in the conference, which comes with a first-round bye and home field advantage until the Super Bowl. The loser drops to the No. 5 seed and has to open the postseason on the road, and then potentially play another road game the following week unless the No. 6 and 7 seeds both also win in the wild card round.



As for where the 5 seed will play in the first round, there’s still a lot to be determined. At the moment, pending the SNF game between Atlanta and Washington, it would be Tampa Bay. But Atlanta is also a significant possibility if the Falcons win the NFC South. It could also theoretically be the NFC West winner, which will be either the Rams or Seahawks. All four of those outcomes are on the table.

Regardless, the stakes could not be much higher for a regular season game. For what it’s worth, the winner’s head coach probably also wins coach of the year in the NFL (though Kevin O’Connell may have an argument over Dan Campbell even with a loss, given the difference in preseason expectations between the two teams).



It’s going to be an absolute war between two teams that have been among the very best in the league all year. When they met at U.S Bank Stadium in Week 7, it was the Lions escaping with a narrow 31-29 win on a last-second field goal. More of the same should be expected in the rematch, given how well both squads have played week in and week out this season.

It’s not official yet, but this will almost certainly be the Sunday Night Football game next week that wraps up the NFL regular season. It’s hard to imagine any other outcome than having this one play out in primetime.

Update: It will, in fact, be on SNF.

Get your popcorn ready.