Do the Vikings have a shot at a first-round playoff bye in 2019?

12 weeks into the 2019 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings are sitting at 8-3 and they are in the thick of the current NFC playoff race.

If the 2019 season ended after Week 12, the Minnesota Vikings would have a spot in the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 6 seed. Based on the current standings, the Vikings would travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers in a first-round postseason matchup.

However, the season is far from over and a lot can happen during the final five weeks left on Minnesota’s schedule. There is even a small chance that the Vikings could enter the playoffs as one of the NFC’s top two teams and earn a first-round bye.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Minnesota currently has a 29 percent chance to land one of the NFC’s top two seeds this year. The Vikings will see their chances for a first-round bye increase to at least 38 percent with a victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.

If Minnesota defeats the Seahawks and the Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and New Orleans Saints all somehow lose in Week 13, the Vikings’ chances of a first-round bye in the playoffs will skyrocket to 72 percent.

It doesn’t seem likely that the 49ers, Saints, and Packers will all suffer losses in their upcoming games, but stranger things have gone down in the NFL.

Minnesota’s best chance at earning a first-round bye this year will likely result from them winning each of their remaining five matchups in 2019. That would put them at 13-3 and they would finish with one of the two best records in the NFC at the very least.

The Vikings have earned a first-round bye in the postseason three times since 2000 and in each instance, they ended up falling in the NFC Championship. Could this finally be the year that Minnesota is able to reach the big game if they enter the playoffs as one of the NFC’s top two seeds?