The Vikings could have gotten into the playoffs with some help in the afternoon games, but they preferred to earn it on their own. Plus, get more than two dozen notes that help tell the tale of the game.
One of the advantages of Sunday night’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants was that the Vikings would already know if an Atlanta loss or a Seattle win had put them in the playoffs before they were set to play.
As it turned out, it was a worst-case scenario from that perspective. Atlanta won to stay alive and Seattle lost to keep the Falcons’ hopes flickering.