The last time such high stakes were present in the final week of the season was 1993.
The last time the stakes were this high in the final week of the season was 1993 / Photo Stephen
The NFL has made the right decision by flexing Vikings-Lions to Sunday night in Week 18. Although Detroit still has to play its Week 17 game on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers, no matter the outcome of that game, next Sunday’s Minnesota-Detroit showdown will decide the NFC North title and the top seed in the NFC.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The winner will earn a bye to the divisional round and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, while the loser will end up with the five-seed, facing the NFC South champion or Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round. This is the first time in more than 30 years that a final-week matchup has determined a conference’s No. 1 seed since 1993.
In that season, the Cowboys won the game at Giants Stadium and later captured their second consecutive Super Bowl title against the Buffalo Bills, while the Giants lost to the 49ers in the divisional round.
This year’s battle for the top seed will take place at Detroit’s Ford Field, where the Lions have suffered their only two losses of the season. If the Vikings-Lions first matchup of the year is any indication, Sunday’s game will be a thrilling spectacle.
The Lions defeated the undefeated Vikings 31-29 in Minneapolis during Week 6 in a thrilling contest. After Minnesota took an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter, Detroit surged with 21 straight points to take a 21-10 halftime lead. The Vikings regained the lead with under six minutes left after a scoop-and-score, but Jared Goff led the Lions on a game-winning drive capped by a 44-yard field goal from Jake Bates, allowing Detroit to hold onto the NFC North lead since then.
This is no small feat. The NFC North is the best division in football, with three teams each finishing with more than 11 wins for the first time since the AFC East in 1985. Vikings-Lions will kick off at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, broadcast on NBC and available for streaming.
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