There will be a lot at stake when the Vikings come to Detroit next Sunday night and the final game of the 2024 regular season.
The winner of the game will be both the NFC North champions and the top seed in the NFC playoffs, so there would be plenty of interest in the matchup even if it wasn’t also historically significant. It will be the first regular season game between two teams that have won at least 13 games and it will be just the fourth game between teams that are both 10 games over .500.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Vikings-Lions game will join a 2005 game between the Seahawks and Colts, a 1983 Washington-Dallas clash and a 1926 clash between the Bears and the Frankford Yellow Jackets as the only games to kick off under such conditions.
Seattle and Washington both advanced to the Super Bowl after winning their games and the winner next Sunday will have the inside track on a similar fate.
Playing twice per year for every year since 1961 — with the exception of the 1982 strike-shortened season, when they faced each other just once — the Vikings and Lions have met 126 times. Their 127th meeting will be the biggest one yet.
The NFL has announced that, next Sunday night, the 2024 regular season will conclude with the 14-2 Vikings visiting the 14-2 or 13-3 Lions for all the NFC marbles. The winner will be the No. 1 seed. The loser will be the No. 5 seed.
Earlier this year, Detroit won in Minnesota, 31-29. After the Vikings failed to convert a third-and-four that would have iced the game, the Lions drove for the game-winning field goal.
Even if Detroit loses to the 49ers on Monday night, a victory over the Vikings will forge a 14-3 tie, with the Lions winning the tiebreaker via the head-to-head sweep.
The Lions have opened as 2.5-point favorites.
It will be the first time in NFL history that two teams with 13 or more wins have met in the regular season. The outcome will give the winner a bye, and home-field advantage if/when there’s a postseason rematch.
If that happens, it’ll be the first time the Vikings and Lions have ever met in the postseason.
It all gets started next Sunday night in Detroit, at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell delivered a couple of injury updates on two key players after Sunday’s win over the Packers.
While running back Aaron Jones was not in at the end of the game because he was dealing with a quad contusion.
“He was working his way through it,” O’Connell said, via Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. “He had some really good runs, but we decided to pull him.”
Cam Akers was in at the end of the contest for the game-sealing 6-yard catch for a third-down conversion.
O’Connell also noted that outside linebacker Pat Jones is expected “to miss al little bit of time” after sustaining a right knee injury during the contest. Pat Jones is set to undergo further evaluation on Monday.
Minnesota will take on Detroit next week for a game that will decide the NFC North and the conference’s No. 1 seed.
As time expired in the first half of today’s 27-25 win over the Packers, the Vikings missed a 55-yard field goal. But the Packers were flagged for offside, and coach Matt LaFleur was not happy about it.
After the five-yard penalty, the Vikings made their 50-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the first half, in what proved to be a huge development, giving the Vikings three more points in a game they ended up winning by two. LaFleur said after the game that he didn’t think Green Bay’s Edgerrin Cooper was offside.
“I was standing right down the line. I didn’t see it that way. But I’m not an official,” LaFleur said.
Replays seemed to support LaFleur’s contention that his team wasn’t offside. We’ll never know how the rest of the game might have gone differently without those three points, but three extra points in a two-point win were huge for the Vikings. And LaFleur thinks those three points were unearned.
Sam Darnold threw for a career-high 377 yards, leading the Vikings to a 27-25 win over the Packers.
Minnesota (14-2) heads to Detroit (13-2) next week, with the winner taking the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the conference. The Lions’ game against San Francisco on Monday night now is meaningless. The Packers fell to 11-5.
The Packers trailed 13-3 at halftime and 20-3 and 27-10 in the third quarter. Like their Week 4 meeting when the Vikings led 28-0 early before having to hold on for a 31-29 win, the Packers rallied but fell short.
Emanuel Wilson scored on a 5-yard run with 6:12 left and then Jordan Love completed a pass to Romeo Doubs for the 2-point conversion before Malik Heath caught a 3-yard touchdown pass with 2:18 remaining.
But the Vikings ran out the clock by picking up two first downs, including a naked bootleg on third-and-2 from the Green Bay 49 with 1:49 left as Cam Akers bobbled the ball but held on.
Darnold threw three touchdown passes, a 31-yarder to Jalen Nailor, an 18-yarder to Jordan Addison and a 9-yarder to Akers. He completed 33 of 43 passes and threw an interception that the Packers converted into their first touchdown, a 2-yard run by Josh Jacobs.
Justin Jefferson had eight catches for 92 yards, and Nailor added five catches for 81 yards.
Will Reichard made field goals of 25 and 50 but missed a 57-yard field goal after the kick hit the crossbar and a 43-yarder after the kick hit the left upright. He also missed a 55-yarder, but officials ruled Edgerrin Cooper offsides and Reichard made the 50-yarder on the final play of the first half.
The Vikings outgained the Packers 441 to 271.
Love was 19-of-30 for 185 yards and a touchdown, and Jacobs ran for 69 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries but also lost a fumble. Doubs led the Packers with seven receptions for 58 yards.
The comeback has started.
Green Bay intercepted Sam Darnold, converting the pick into a four-play, 16-yard drive that has the Packers within 20-10 of the Vikings.
Darnold tried to hit T.J. Hockenson and instead watched Carrington Valentine intercept the pass. Valentine returned it 33 yards to the Minnesota 17 before Jalen Nailor forced Valentine to fumble. Keisean Nixon recovered for the Packers at the Minnesota 16.
Josh Jacobs ran for 3 yards; Jordan Love completed a 9-yard pass to Romeo Doubs, and then Jacobs had runs of 2 and 2. The last was a touchdown run.
He has scored in seven consecutive games and now has 17 carries for 69 yards.
The Packers have had a good season, but they have struggled in two games against the Vikings. It will take a heck of a comeback for the Packers today to split their two meetings.
Minnesota led 28-0 in a Week 4 game in Green Bay before holding on for a 31-29 win.
Today, the Vikings lead 20-3.
Minnesota opened the second half with a nine-play, 70-yard drive, with Jordan Addison catching an 18-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold. Addison turned around Javon Bullard to get open in the end zone.
Darnold is 24-of-30 for 257 yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings now have 299 yards.
Addison had two catches for 20 yards on the opening third quarter drive, giving him five for 49.
The Packers have only 26 plays for 112 yards, have a turnover and a failed fourth down. They trail the Vikings 13-3 at halftime in a key NFC North battle.
The Vikings did nothing with the game’s only turnover. Cam Bynum recovered a Josh Jacobs fumble at the Minnesota 38 that Jerry Tillery forced, but the Vikings gained only 17 yards before punting. They reached the Green Bay 39, 31, 7 and 32 on their next four drives of the half.
Will Reichard missed a 57-yard field goal after the kick hit the crossbar, but he later made a chip-shot 25-yarder. Reichard missed a 55-yard attempt wide right on the final play of the half, but officials called Edgerrin Cooper offsides. The Packers were livid on the sideline with the call as Reichard then made a 50-yarder.
The only touchdown of the first half was a 31-yard throw from Sam Darnold to a wide-open Jalen Nailor.
The Vikings have 224 yards, with Darnold going 17-of-22 for 184 yards and a touchdown. Aaron Jones has eight carries for 30 yards, and T.J. Hockenson five catches for 68 yards. Justin Jefferson has two catches for 13 yards and Jordan Addison three for 29.
The Packers settled for a red-zone field goal with Brandon McManus making a 22-yard chip-shot kick. The eight-play, 49-yard drive ended at the Minnesota 4.
They went for it on fourth-and-2 on another drive that reached the Minnesota 23, but Jordan Love’s pass intended for Jayden Reed was incomplete.
Love is 7-of-12 for 45 yards, and Josh Jacobs has 13 carries for 61 yards.
The Vikings have taken a 7-3 lead on the Packers with 11:52 remaining in the second quarter.
Jalen Nailor got wide open and caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold. It completed a nine-play, 77-yard drive.
The Vikings have outgained the Packers 125 to 77 and could lead by more, but Will Reichard missed a 57-yard field goal after the kick hit the crossbar.
The Vikings’ first drive ended with a punt after Cam Bynum recovered a Josh Jacobs fumble at the Minnesota 38 that Jerry Tillery forced.
The Packers settled for a red-zone field goal with Brandon McManus making a 22-yard chip-shot kick. The eight-play, 49-yard drive ended at the Minnesota 4.
Darnold is 9-of-12 for 95 yards, while Jordan Love is 6-of-9 for 43.
The Vikings announced a pair of roster moves on Saturday, including the return of linebacker Ivan Pace to the active roster.
Pace injured his hamstring in Week 12 and has missed the last four games, which made him eligible to come off of injured reserve ahead of Sunday’s game against the Packers. Pace has 59 tackles, six tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, three sacks, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in nine appearances with the Vikings this season.
The Vikings waived linebacker Jamin Davis in a corresponding move.
Davis was signed off of the Packers’ practice squad after Pace’s injury and had one sack in four games.
