Minnesota desperately needed to beat Carolina at home and that’s exactly what the team did.
If the Vikings were to lose that game, it would make getting back to .500 — let alone making the playoffs — a difficult task.
Last week, the Vikings had a 20% chance of making the postseason, according to FiveThirtyEight. Now, that mark is at 30%.
Minnesota (5-6) is also just one game back from a wild card spot. The team has a tie breaker over the Bears and could have another one if it upsets the Buccaneers in Week 14.
To make matters better: Minnesota has a winnable game next up. The Vikings have another home matchup, this time against the Jaguars. Jacksonville moved to 1-10 with a loss to the Browns on Sunday.
The Vikings have a chance to make Jacksonville look bad and move to 6-6. The game against the Jaguars this week is pretty important. Losing that would not only suggest inconsistency, but it would make reaching a playoff-caliber record all the more difficult.
But if Minnesota wins that game, there is a path. The Vikings have the Lions and Bears left on the slate. The team could lose to the Buccaneers and Saints and still possibility clinch a postseason berth at 8-8.
It depends on how the tiebreakers and the rest of the Vikings’ games play out, but at the moment, the team isn’t in a bad spot for the postseason. Imagine telling Vikings fans that at 1-5?
