There’s a tradition growing in the Detroit Lions locker room at the expense of the Minnesota Vikings.
After the Lions dealt the Vikings their first loss of the season in a 31-29 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 20, Detroit trolled their division rival, playing Lil Yachty’s “Minnesota” in the visitor locker room.
It’s not the first time the Lions have done this. According to ESPN beat reporter Eric Woodyard, Detroit did the same locker room celebration after beating the Vikings on the road on Christmas Eve last year.
The Lions have won four straight games against Minnesota dominantly, scoring at least 30 points in all four wins. The Vikings still lead the all-time series 80-44-2 but Detroit’s new era under Dan Campbell is proving to have staying power in the NFC after making it to the conference championship game last season.
Detroit and Minnesota are tied with 5-1 records entering Week 8, although the Lions sit atop the NFC North with an advantage in the head-to-head tiebreaker that will set the tone for the division title chase the rest of the season.
Both teams meet again in Detroit at Ford Field for the regular-season finale, which could have major playoff implications.
Vikings Exceed Expectations Through Hardest Stretch of Schedule
While it is a long season, the Vikings’ 5-1 start through the toughest stretch of the schedule exceeded expectations by even team beat reporters who were more optimistic than Vegas, which set Minnesota’s over-under for total wins at 6.5 to start the season.
While the NFC North is slated to be the toughest division, the Vikings have a lighter schedule ahead.
Five of Minnesota’s next six games are against non-divisional opponents whose Super Bowl odds are outside the top 20 teams in the league. They also all rank in the bottom half of the Power Rankings Guru’s composite NFL Power Rankings.
November will be a get-right month for the Vikings to fine-tune their play in preparation for the season’s final stretch which will surely be a dogfight in the division.
Vikings 2024 Season Outlook Entering Week 8
After their loss to Detroit, the Vikings fell to No. 5 in the composite power rankings with a 5.2-average across A two-point loss to the NFC’s Super Bowl favorite is no reason to knock Minnesota any further, and their outlook for the rest of the season is bright.
The Vikings have an 86% chance of making the postseason, per Power Rankings Guru and the fifth-best odds (7.5%) of making the Super Bowl.
Minnesota has a short turnaround, facing the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday in a game that can catapult the Vikings’ odds at the No. 1 seed in the NFC postseason.
With a win, the Vikings would have a 52.6% chance at taking the top seed in the conference, while a loss would tank their chances to win the top seed to 32.8%, per Heavy’s Quarter4 projections engine.
Minnesota’s remaining strength of schedule ranks 14th in the league. The rest of the NFC North ranks in the top five of most difficult schedules.
The Vikings’ strong start to the season offers plenty of encouragement as Minnesota is projected to win 12 games this season — the second-most in the NFL behind only the Kansas City Chiefs.
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