NFC standings update: Vikings jump to sixth place with the Cowboys’ defeat over the Seahawks
The Seahawks’ Thursday night loss to the Cowboys caused the Vikings to jump up to the sixth spot in the current NFC playoff standings. Although both Minnesota and Seattle have a 6-6 record, the Vikings lead by one game in the most important tiebreaker—their record versus conference opponents.
The Seahawks came to play on Thursday night and had a 35-27 lead early in the fourth quarter after DK Metcalf’s third touchdown reception of the evening, but the red-hot Cowboys responded with the final 14 points of the game to win by a 41-35 score. Dallas has won four in a row and six of its last seven, with only a one-score loss in Philadelphia mixed in there. They’ve scored 30-plus points an NFL-high eight times in 12 games and are undefeated at home. The Vikings almost certainly aren’t going to catch the Cowboys for the fifth seed, which comes with a matchup against whoever wins the NFC South. They would love to hunt down the Lions in the NFC North, but that was a big missed opportunity against the Bears on Monday night. The Vikings will most likely need to sweep Detroit to make that happen. Realistically, the Vikings will try to win enough games in their final five to hold off the Packers, Rams, and Saints and enter the postseason as the sixth or seventh seed. That would mean a road matchup against the 49ers or Lions (it’s possible the Vikings and Lions will play each other three times in a four-week span).