The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings will face off next week in a season finale with the NFC North division title on the line — and they will have the undivided attention of America’s football fans to do it.
The Vikings took down the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, moving to 14-2 and a half-game above the Lions in the division. Regardless of the outcome of Detroit’s game against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, Minnesota’s win ensures that the winner of next week’s game against the Lions will take home the division crown.
The NFL announced on Dec. 29 that the game will be flexed to the only primetime slot on Sunday, which is reserved for one of the most meaningful games on the slate.
Lions Host Primetime Game
As Benjamin Raven of MLive.com noted, the game between the Lions and Vikings promises to be a good one, with both teams among the league’s best.
“It’s as juicy of a late-season matchup as possible, with two of the NFL’s hottest teams facing off with everything on the line for Game 272,” Raven wrote.
“The league leaves the final week as flexible as possible, with every game listed as ‘TBD’ until after Week 17.”
Raven added that the Lions have had a banner season, going 5-0 in the division so far and looking to stay perfect in next week’s season finale.
“The Lions are enjoying their best regular season of all time, running the table in the NFC North and on the road to this point,” Raven wrote. “But the Vikings have kept the pressure on all year long, not losing since Week 8, and they just beat the Green Bay Packers in Week 17 to set up this big game.”
The game could have some major implications beyond the division. If the Lions beat the 49ers on Monday, it would ensure that the winner of next week’s game earns the No. 1 overall seed and a first-round bye, while the loser will become the first 14-win wild card team in NFL history.
The game will also have some historic implications. As ESPN’s Kevin Seifert noted, there have been only three other games in NFL history featuring two teams with such stellar records.
“Sunday’s game in Detroit will be only the 4th in NFL history between two teams that are both 10+ games above .500, per @EliasSports,” Seifert wrote in a post on X.
No Rest for Weary Lions
While the Lions will not have the chance to rest starters in Week 18, a win over the Vikings would give the team a critical opportunity to heal up during the opening round of the playoffs. As Billy Riccette of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted, the Lions are close to getting a key member of the offense back.
Running back David Montgomery suffered a knee injury that is expected to keep him out for two more weeks, so he would not have to miss a playoff game if the Lions earn the first-round bye.
“The hope is for Montgomery to return for the Divisional Round, giving the Lions a little more incentive to land the No. 1 seed and the first-round bye, which they can clinch this week with a win and a Vikings loss against the Packers,” Riccette wrote.
