The NFC North has been one of the most entertaining divisions in the NFL this year, with three teams winning 10 or more games. However, entering Week 18, only the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings remained in contention for the crown. Adding to the excitement was that the division winner would also clinch the NFC No. 1 seed.
Who Won the NFC North and Clinched the NFC No. 1 Seed?
The Lions defeated the Vikings 31-9 on Sunday Night Football. Therefore, Detroit clinched the NFC North title and will be the NFC’s No. 1 seed, while the Vikings will be the fifth seed and will be on the road in Wild Card Weekend.
This was a winner-takes-all game for the NFC North. Both teams came into it tied at 14-2, so whoever won (Lions) finished 15-2, while the team that lost (Vikings) finished 14-3.
The Lions will now sit out Wild Card Weekend and await the winner, while the Vikings will be on the road against the No. 4 seed (Los Angeles Rams) in the NFC.
The Lions will host the lowest remaining seed after Wild Card Weekend on divisional weekend and will know that if they win that game, they are hosting the NFC Championship Game. Meanwhile, the Vikings will most likely have to play all three games on the road if they want to go to the Super Bowl.
The only way that the Vikings can host is if all three Wild Card teams go on the road and win on Wild Card Weekend. That would leave the No. 1 seed hosting the No. 7 seed and the No. 5 seed hosting the No.6 seed.
Based on our current projections, the most likely outcome for both of these teams in the Divisional Round is that they will face each other again, regardless of who wins this week. Our projections gave the Lions a 56.2% chance of clinching the No. 1 seed, with the Vikings at 43.8%.
To simulate all the different scenarios, head over to PFN’s free NFL Playoff Predictor to see how they change the playoff picture and the NFL postseason bracket.