Following his team's Week 18 win over the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell approached Kevin O'Connell and said, "Great job. I'll see you in two weeks." But thanks to the Washington Commanders defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a wild-card contest on Sunday, Campbell's prediction won't be coming true.
Instead, the Lions and their head coach will be hosting the Commanders in the divisional round of the 2024 playoffs next weekend, regardless of the outcome of Monday's first-round playoff game between the Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.
Minnesota and Detroit can still meet in this season's playoffs. The Vikings just need to win on Monday, and then both the Lions and Vikings need to get victories in their divisional-round matchups next weekend. If all of that happens, then Minnesota and Detroit will battle it out inside Ford Field in the 2024 NFC Championship.
With a win on Monday, Minnesota Vikings will face Philadelphia Eagles next, not Detroit Lions
With Washington pulling off the upset over the Buccaneers on Sunday, we not only know who the Lions will be facing next week, but we also know that the winner of Monday's matchup between the Vikings and Rams will head out on the road to face the Philadelphia Eagles next weekend.
Minnesota has never defeated the Eagles on the road since O'Connell became the franchise's head coach in 2022, and since 2011, the Vikings are 1-4 in Philadelphia, with their only victory coming in Week 5 of the 2018 season.
In addition to the franchise's recent struggles on the road against the Eagles, Minnesota has also never defeated Philadelphia in the playoffs. The two teams have met four times in the postseason, and the Eagles have emerged with a victory in each matchup.
Obviously, the Vikings need to take care of business against Los Angeles on Monday first. But a second-round matchup in Philadelphia definitely isn't going to be easy for Minnesota.
At the same time, the Vikings have already spent the entire 2024 campaign proving so many people wrong by finishing the regular season with a 14-3 record. So quieting more doubters in a potential divisional-round playoff contest against the Eagles isn't exactly something that will be insurmountable for Minnesota.
