Minnesota has already lost its first game to Detroit, so it doesn’t have full control of its own destiny. The Vikings need to keep winning while the Lions miss a few games to worsen their overall and/or divisional record.
If the Lions and Vikings have the same record in Week 18, the regular-season finale will be a winner-take-all affair.
However, if the Vikings are still one game behind the Lions, they will have to win the last game of the season to stay ahead in the head-to-head matchup And This means they have a better division record to win the title.
If the Vikings are one game behind the Lions this week and can clinch a division record with just a win, the Week 18 result would have no bearing on the NFC North title race.
After head-to-head record and division record, the next tiebreaker is record against common opponents. Since Minnesota lost in Week 8 to the Rams, a team the Lions beat in Week 1, the Vikings would finish second even if they were tied in overall and divisional standings.
In summary, Minnesota needs to lose at least one more game to Detroit in order for the Vikings to take control of their destiny for the NFC North title.
NFL POWER RANKINGS Bills, Eagles and Lions make compelling arguments to be the No. 1 team in Week 14
Green Bay Packers
The Packers are at a disadvantage when it comes to the NFC North title. Not only do they have the worst overall record, but they have already lost head-to-head games with the Lions and Vikings, which has (obviously) hurt their divisional record.
It’ll take a lot for Green Bay to make its way into the NFC North, but it’s not impossible. A win over the Lions on Thursday would greatly increase their chances of clinching the division title as it would split their head-to-head matchups And ruining Detroit’s perfect divisional record.
From there, the Packers would need a win over the Vikings to tie themselves in the head-to-head tiebreaker. If they achieve both, they will also need a better division record than both teams to win the division.
Chaos results
If all three teams have the same overall and divisional record, the next tiebreaker is the record against a common opponent. The obvious common opponent for each team is the Bears, but all three teams may go undefeated or split these matchups.
In this case, the Vikings would be eliminated from the title race due to their loss to the Rams, a team that both the Lions and Packers have already defeated.
In this scenario, the only way the Packers could reach an overall and divisional record on par with the Lions (and Vikings) would be with a loss to the Seahawks (Week 15) or the Saints (Week 16) and a Lions loss to the Bills (Week 15). ) or 49ers (Week 17).
The 49ers, who Green Bay has already defeated, would be a common opponent of the Lions. A Detroit loss to San Francisco would give the Packers the title.
If all of this were to happen, but the Lions beat the 49ers instead of the Bills, there would be no difference in overall record, division record, combined opponent record or conference record between them and the Packers. In this scenario, the fifth tiebreaker would be triggered and the NFC North title would depend on the strength of the win.
OTHER CLOSE DIVISION RACES: NFC West Division Rankings, Projected Playoff Teams
NFC North standings
Lions 11-1
Vikings 10-2
Packers 9-3
Bears 4-8
