The Viking Age
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5 things to know about the Vikings and Lions in Week 17

By Dustin Baker

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 08: Adam Thielen #19 of the Minnesota Vikings runs a route during the second quarter of the game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 8, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 08: Adam Thielen #19 of the Minnesota Vikings runs a route during the second quarter of the game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 8, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) Rick Spielman – Minnesota Vikings /

1. Vikings draft order will fluctuate per the result of this game

And perhaps drastically.

The Vikings hold a 6-9 record in 2020, and the Lions are directly behind Minnesota at 5-10. Because of a superior division record (no matter the outcome of Sunday’s game), the Vikings will finish in third place inside the NFC North. Detroit is in last place and will pick higher than the Vikings in April’s draft.

General manager Rick Spielman — pending the result of this Week 17 contest — could get a pick as high as ninth or as low as fifteenth in the draft. In this regard, folks that advocate the intentional sabotage of their favorite team are in the driver’s seat. Consider this game at Detroit as a mini-tank situation. Depending on the win-loss verdicts from other NFL teams this weekend, the Vikings will have a top-ten pick or a middle-of-the-pack selection. And, of course, that seeding follows the team through the duration of draft per round.

Here’s the lesson: If the Vikings lose to the Lions, who cares? The season is indisputably lost from a postseason perspective, a rarity for a Zimmer-led team venturing into Week 17. A loss simply means that the Vikings pick higher in the draft four months from now.

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