The Green Bay Packers have claimed the NFC North three years in a row. However, this streak can end this season as the Minnesota Vikings have a solid chance of kicking the Packers off the division title.
A tie or a win solidifies the chance for the Vikings to clinch the division for themselves. With the help of other teams this coming Sunday, the Vikings could win the NFC North and make them the first team in the NFL to clinch a playoff spot and division title.
This grand opportunity is only possible due to the team’s impeccable five weeks into the season, ensuring their place in the regular season.
This Win Would Be a Historic Feat
With this win, the Vikings would have an opportunity to achieve something that has only been done six times in the Super Bowl Era. Their division only remains five games to play.
There are two possible scenarios where the Minnesota Vikings can win the NFC North against the New York Jets on Sunday, Week 13. The easiest way would be to defeat the Jets on Sunday for Detroit Lions to lose against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
This win would cement the Vikings as the seventh team to win the division with only five weeks in play. The other six teams included the Vikings in 1973. No other teams have managed this feat with more games to play except the San Francisco 49ers
They did not make the Super Bowl after their loss to the Green Bay Packers in 1997 during the NFC Championship. Achieving this mean feat would be a huge positive comeback for the Vikings, who will remain with only one milestone to check off.
You already know how we do it.#Skol pic.twitter.com/Edi0vWSMwb
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) November 30, 2022
How the Vikings can clinch the NFC North
In a week, the Vikings could be popping champagne bottles and celebrating their new division title, and here is how they can do that. The Vikings are at 9-2; at this point, clinching the NFC North is a mere formality.
Detroit 4-7, Chicago 3-8, and Green Bay 4-7 are all out, the Bears cannot take home the division, and it would take an intervention from the Packers or Lions to catch up with the Vikings or win the division at this point.
This Sunday, the magic number for the Vikings is two; any of these combinations guarantees the Vikings their win. Lions or Packers losses totaling two would secure the Viking’s first division title since 2019.
Since the Vikings beat the Patriots on Thanksgiving, they won’t be playing on Sunday, and neither will the Lions, who were defeated by the Bills. The fans are therefore left to watch the score of the Packers on Sunday.
Coach O’Connell discusses 3 key plays that led to the Thanksgiving turnaround. #Vikings
📺: https://t.co/mwlSO3P1rn pic.twitter.com/eWIncmBUKw
— PeteBercich (@PeteBercich) November 30, 2022
The Numbers that can Guarantee the NF North Win
If Green Bay losses, the Vikings get nearer to the division title; however, a Packers win would highly increase The Vikings’ chance of passing the Eagles in the home field and getting the first seed in the playoffs.
The Vikings are guaranteed the North division title if they reach ten wins or if the Packers and Lions get eight losses. This or if they have nine wins while the Packers and the lions have nine losses.
If the Vikings beat the Jets and the Packers lose to the bears or Eagles, while the Lions lose to Jacksonville, the score would leave the Vikings at 10-2, the Packers at 4-9 0r 5-8, and the Lions at 4-8 thus creating sox game cushion in the loss column with five games remaining.
The Vikings could clinch a playoff spot as early as this weekend & Minnesota fans have turned out in droves in Pro Bowl voting.
It’s a good time to be a Viking. https://t.co/a1llKgYow7
— Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV) November 29, 2022
Chances of Winning are at 99%
As the season heads into the 12th week, the Minnesota Vikings are in the lead, and the following teams are further behind owing to their losses the previous week. This lead puts the team further in the lead than they were a week after their Thanksgiving win against the Patriots.
A loss against the Jets next week or a win for the Lions still does not mean the Vikings won’t take home the Division title. It just means it may take longer for them to be awarded the title.
For the Minnesota Vikings to lose the division title this year, they would have to lose all the remaining matches for the season. At the same time, the Lions and the Green Bay Packers would win all their remaining matches, an impossible feat to achieve.
While the team and its fans have witnessed many crazy things over the years, the possibility of losing this division lies at 0ne percent. The Minnesota Vikings will be popping champagne bottles; it is just a matter of which week, the week of December 4 or December 10.
With the Packers loss last night. The Vikings can clinch the NFC north in week 13 (next weekend)! #SKOL
5/6 teams who clinched this early went to the Super Bowl, including the 1973 Vikings. Only one didn’t make it, and that was the 1997 49ers (NFC title game.)
– Casey pic.twitter.com/oypM4OuyvE
— MinnSconny Sports (@minnsconny) November 28, 2022
Credits on Featured Image: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
