Vikings lose more than just a game to the Lions
The Minnesota Vikings suffered a tough loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but it wasn't just another tick in the L column that sent them to under .500 on the year. The Vikings lost out on a chance to keep competing for their second-straight NFC North title. The Lions are now the official -and […]
The Minnesota Vikings suffered a tough loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but it wasn't just another tick in the L column that sent them to under .500 on the year.
The Vikings lost out on a chance to keep competing for their second-straight NFC North title. The Lions are now the official -and newest- NFC North champs. If the Vikings' season ended with another NFCN title, it would've been the first time they were back-to-back champs since the 2008-2009 seasons.
Then, the Seattle Seahawks beat the Tennessee Titans, which knocked Minnesota out of the playoff race, for now. The Vikings also saw their playoff chances drop to 39% after the loss. They would've risen to 78% with a win.
Injuries also decimate the Vikings on both sides of the ball
And, star tight end T.J. Hockenson was ruled out for the game after injuring his knee early in the third quarter. He was on the receiving end of a 24-yard reception that ended in a low tackle. That's what caused the injury and the final diagnosis is currently unclear.
To make things worse, the injury came after rookie wideout, Jordan Addison, was ruled out with an ankle injury. Those are obviously two key weapons for the Vikings offense and the injuries were certainly felt after Hockenson was ruled out. Minnesota immediately went three-and-out on the next two drives, with the second ending in Mullens' third interception of the day.
It wasn't just the offense that experienced bad injuries, either. Ascending pass rusher D.J. Wonnum was carted off the field in the fourth quarter due to a non-contact knee injury and cornerback Mekhi Blackmon injured his shoulder and couldn't finish the game. He was already replacing Byron Murphy, who was ruled out on Friday with a knee injury, himself.
It was a very rough Christmas Eve for the Vikings, who looked to be in very good shape after the opening drive of the third quarter. But the Lions offense was simply too much for the Vikings defense in the second half and the Vikings offense couldn't overcome the injuries, which is easy to imagine.
Vikings' playoff picture ahead of Monday's slate of games
The good news is the Vikings don't need a ton of help to get back in the playoff race. They obviously have to take care of their own business, first, and that will be against the Green Bay Packers at home and Lions on the road. The fact both games are NFC matchups will come in handy, big time, when talking about the conference record tiebreaker, which is the first tiebreaker after the head-to-head. So, if the Vikings win both of their last games, they'll have a 7-4 conference record. The Rams are the only team of the 8-7/7-8 teams with less than five conference record losses on the year, so any team that doesn't hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Vikings (which is the 7-8 Falcons), won't be able to win the conference tiebreaker vs. Minnesota.
But, obviously, these injuries are going to play a big role in what happens over the next two weeks. They may just be too much for the Vikings to overcome, in the end.
