Why the Monday Night Football game against the 49ers no longer matters for the Detroit Lions

DETROIT – The Detroit Lions are back in San Francisco for a prime-time rematch of the NFC Championship Game on Monday Night Football.

Last time, a spot in the Super Bowl was on the line. This time the game doesn’t matter.

Certainly the Lions will continue to try to win – not only to avenge the end of last year, but also because Dan Campbell has established such a culture.

But in terms of the playoffs, Monday night’s game is completely meaningless thanks to the Vikings’ win over the Packers on Sunday night.

If the Packers had won, the Lions could have secured the NFC North and No. 1 seed with a win in San Francisco. Instead, no matter what happens against the 49ers, it all comes down to next week’s Vikings-Lions game at Ford Field.

If the Lions beat the Vikings in Week 18, they will earn a No. 1 seed, which comes with a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the NFC Championship Game.

But if the Lions lose, they drop to the first wild-card spot and settle for the conference’s No. 5 seed, meaning they’re headed to face the worst NFC division winner in the wild-card round.

Nothing that happens in San Francisco can change that.

The reason a Vikings loss could have given the Lions a chance to win on Monday is because the Lions have tiebreakers with both the Vikings and Eagles.

Minnesota would have suffered an additional loss in the division and Philadelphia has more conference losses than the Lions. So the Lions could have clinched the top spot on Monday night and essentially needed two weeks (a meaningless Week 18 and the first-round bye) to be ready for the playoffs.

Instead, there will be a lot at stake next week at Ford Field. When it comes to Super Bowl odds, a first-round bye and home-field advantage can make all the difference.