Vikings In Control Of Their Playoff Destiny
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After playing their best game of the year Sunday, the Vikings control their own playoff destiny. If they win either of their final two games, they're in.
Any combination of a Seattle win or tie, or an Atlanta loss or tie would do it, too.
So coach Mike Zimmer's gotta be feeling pretty good right now, right?
Nope.
"Our goal really isn't to get into the playoffs," Zimmer said. "Our goal is to win the division."
That's something this franchise hasn't done since 2009. And it's much more than simply a point of pride. It'd mean a home playoff game. And that would be a very big deal.
Locking that up is also entirely in the Vikings control. No matter what Green Bay does this week at Arizona, if the Vikings win out, they win it, based on tiebreakers.
Winning the division would lock the Vikings into the 3-seed. Not winning it would likely slot them into the 6. So, indeed, just getting in is a much different situation than winning the division.
But they've gotta win one before they can win two, Zimmer would remind them.
"All we've talked about is this week," he said. "Winning each week, focus on the task at hand this week, and here's what have to do to win, and stack 'em up at the end. I've said that many times. We'll count 'em up at the end, and see where we're at. And now we're close enough to I think have that realization that we have an opportunity to do that."
And keep in mind, it's still possible for the Vikings to miss the playoffs. It'd take losing both their final two games, Seattle losing both, and Atlanta winning both for a three-team tiebreaker to kick in and give the spots to the birds.
But as Kevin Garnett famously said: Anything is possible.