The Detroit Lions have already dealt with enterprise towards the Minnesota Vikings as soon as this 12 months — on the highway, too — however they’ve to beat their division rivals once more to lock up the NFC’s finest report in Week 18. Detroit will play host to Minnesota in a sport that can decide the winner of the NFC North, playoff seeding, and extra.
Detroit is 14-2, together with the 31-29 victory over the Vikings again in Week 7, nevertheless it’s all come all the way down to the ultimate sport of the common season, once they play host to Minnesota as soon as once more on the ultimate Sunday Evening Soccer earlier than the playoffs. That sport is about for 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Lions are 2.5-point favorites, in line with FanDuel Sportsbook.
Detroit Lions NFC North clinching situations
The Lions have been in charge of the NFC for a lot of the season, and have held a tiebreak over the Vikings since that Week 7 sport. However they’ve the identical report going into Week 18, that means the winner shall be a sport away from the opposite. Meaning the winner takes the NFC North, the highest seed within the convention, a first-round bye within the playoffs, and home-field benefit by way of the convention championship sport (in the event that they advance).
In different phrases, Sunday’s sport is the largest of the 12 months for each groups on high of being the common season nearer besides. The loser of this sport not solely has to play an additional sport, they are going to drop to the fifth seed and can journey to face the fourth seed within the wild card spherical. The fourth seed could possibly be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, or Los Angeles Rams, although that shall be determined earlier on Saturday.
The Lions clinch the NFC North, a first-round bye, and home-field benefit with:
Lions eradicated from NFC North competition, clinching fifth seed with:
NFC standings getting into Week 18
1. x-Detroit Lions (14-2, win over MIN)
2. y-Philadelphia Eagles (13-3)
3. y-Los Angeles Rams (10-6)
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)
5. x-Minnesota Vikings (14-2, loss to DET)
6. x-Washington Commanders (11-5, 8-3 NFC)
7. x-Inexperienced Bay Packers (11-5, 6-5 NFC)
8. Seattle Seahawks (9-7) — eradicated
9. Atlanta Falcons (8-8)
10. Dallas Cowboys (7-9, 5-6 NFC) — eradicated
11. Arizona Cardinals (7-9, 3-8 NFC) — eradicated
12. San Francisco 49ers (6-9, win over DAL) — eradicated
13. New Orleans Saints (5-11) — eradicated
14. Chicago Bears (4-11, win over CAR) — eradicated
15. Carolina Panthers (4-12, loss to CHI) — eradicated
16. New York Giants (3-13) — eradicated
Groups with an asterisk (*) have been eradicated from divisional competition
Groups with an (x) have clinched a playoff spot
Groups with a (y) have clinched their division
Groups with a (z) have clinched the one seed, home-field benefit, and a first-round bye