Vikings playoff scenarios for Week 14: What fans should be rooting for

If all goes according to plan, here's what should happen.

Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings | David Berding/GettyImages

Already, the Minnesota Vikings have seen maybe the biggest game of the week take place.

It was an NFC North battle between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers to kick off the week on Thursday Night Football, with the former prevailing. Now with the Lions still at the top with a record of 12-1, the Vikings are trying to keep pace.

This weekend, it's a matchup with the Atlanta Falcons and former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Falcons are fighting for their playoff lives at 6-6, but Minnesota is still favored to win this one.

Assuming the Vikings can pull out the win over Atlanta, what other games are going to help impact the postseason standings and overall race?

Who should Vikings fans be pulling for in Week 14?

Carolina (3-9) at Philadelphia (10-2)

This is by far, and away, the biggest remaining matchup of the weekend for Minnesota's positioning. With the Lions already having won and going to 12-1, the Vikings should be hoping for the 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles to drop their third of the year.

If Philly were to lose and Minnesota wins, then it is on to looking ahead at some potential Lions losses down the stretch (Buffalo, Chicago, San Francisco and the Vikings remain).

Las Vegas (2-10) at Tampa Bay (6-6)

Now, we get into the positioning with seeds 5-7. If the Lions end up winning the division, then Minnesota can hope they are able to position themselves as high as the five seed. To do that, they need some of the middling teams to lose, starting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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The likelihood the Bucs lose to the Raiders is not high, especially considering the Vikings hopefully pull it out against Atlanta, allowing Tampa Bay to jump back into first place in the NFC South.

Seattle (7-5) at Arizona (6-6)

This is the murkiest matchup of the weekend but, all things considered, seeing Seattle drop to 7-6 and evening their record with Arizona is best-case scenario. We'll root for the Cards, here.

Between the Seahawks, Cardinals and Rams, only two of them, at most, will make the postseason. Odds are, only one of them does. Right now, the Seahawks own the no. 3 seed as they lead their division.

Buffalo (10-2) at L.A. Rams (6-6)

Buffalo is gunning for the no. 1 seed in the AFC, so they'll be going hard after the Rams in this one. Meanwhile, the Rams are in the aforementioned NFC West, where it remains wide open. If Buffalo wins, it drops the Rams further from contention. This one is pretty easy.

Chicago (4-8) at San Francisco (5-7)

It might feel wrong rooting for the Bears, but they're in worse position than the 49ers right now. If Chicago wins, they essentially seal the fate of San Francisco. Meanwhile, the Bears are nearly out of the running already.

Cincinnati (4-8) at Dallas (5-7)

Similar to the above matchup, record-wise, the Vikes should be pulling for Cincy in this one. A Bengals win would all but completely eliminate the Cowboys from the postseason, taking them out of a wild card race if that's what it came down to for Minnesota.

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