5 bold Minnesota Vikings predictions for Week 18 vs. the Detroit Lions
By Chris Schad
Bold Vikings Prediction No. 4
The Vikings will miss the playoffs
The Vikings still have a chance to make this season's playoffs on Sunday, but even if they get a win, they’ll still need a lot of help from a number of other teams to get in.
In addition to beating the Lions, Minnesota needs the Seattle Seahawks to beat the Arizona Cardinals and the Chicago Bears to beat the Packers at Lambeau Field.
And even if that happens, the Vikings will still also need either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to lose to the Carolina Panthers or the New Orleans Saints to lose to the Atlanta Falcons.
In this scenario, Minnesota is likely just focusing on what they can control. But they’ll be facing a Detroit team that just got screwed out of a big win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell has described his team’s approach to this game as “controlled fury,” and with Detroit still having an outside chance at the No. 2 seed in the NFC, they’ll likely play Sunday’s game out to set the tone for the following week.
This is bad news for a Vikings team that’s already down several key players and could be exhausted mentally following a tough season.
Although Minnesota could put up a fight, the Lions should be able to handle this one and send the Vikings into a 2024 offseason full of questions.
Prediction: Lions win 37-17