Vikings Playoff Clinching Scenarios

Here's a look at what needs to happen for the Minnesota Vikings to clinch a playoff spot today. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss to the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night was the first step.

More important than anything else is that the Vikings have to defeat the Chicago Bears today. Nothing else matters.

Then, these things have to happen:

Washington Redskins loss to the Buffalo Bills

and

Atlanta Falcons loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars

or

Washington Redskins loss to the Buffalo Bills

and 

Seattle Seahawks loss to the Cleveland Browns

-I don't like the odds of this one happening. 

or

New York Giants loss to the Carolina Panthers

and 

Atlanta Falcons loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars

or 

New York Giants loss to the Carolina Panthers

and

Seattle Seahawks loss to the Cleveland Browns

-I don't like the odds of this one happening.

First of all, the Falcons presence in these scenarios is one that eludes me. The Vikings defeated the Falcons in Week 12. If the Vikings win today the best that the Falcons can manage is a 9-7 tie with them at the end of the season. Unless there's some secret tiebreaker that comes before head-to-head record the Vikings win any tie with the Falcons due to that Week 12 victory. NFL.com and CBS Sports still include the Falcons. We'll see.

At first glance the scenario involving the Giants is probably the most likely. The Panthers are undefeated and look like they want to stay that way. The Giants have to win and are playing at home but this is a real tough game for the them to come away with a win. The Giants can be explosive and they do have a history of ending long unbeaten streaks that dates back to the 1934 NFL Championship game. The Falcons have been in a free fall since a 5-0 start. The Jaguars have flaunted some offensive fireworks in recent weeks. The teams that the Vikings need to win are probably the favorites in the Panthers-Giants and Jaguars-Falcons games. I can also see the Bills surprising the Redskins in Washington. So, neither Vikings playoff clinching scenario is far-fetched. The scenarios involving a Seahawks loss, however, are quite far-fetched. 

There are some playoff scenarios involving a Vikings tie with the Bears but those aren't even worth discussing. 

Most importantly, the Minnesota Vikings have to win today. And keep winning the rest of the way. They control their playoff hopes and those hopes include the NFC North title. That's still a possibility and it's theirs if they keep winning.