• Can Minnesota Vikings Still Make Playoffs
• Can The Vikings Still Make The Playoffs 2020
• Can The Vikings Still Make The Playoffs 2019

The Vikings need to go at least 5-1 and finish 9-7 to have a realistic chance at making the playoffs. Even then, if the Cardinals only lose two more games, the Vikings would still likely be out of. Yes, but a lot of things have to happen to make it possible. The Falcons look like they will win the south, and the Saints will get a wild card spot over the vikings with one more win, because they have the tiebreaker from their week 1 win over the Vikings. Vikings make playoffs if they win one of their last two regular-season games, Monday against Green Bay (11-3) and Dec. 29 against the Chicago Bears (7-7), or the Los Angeles Rams (8-6) lose one.

Believe it or not, the Minnesota Vikings are not out of the playoff hunt yet.

The Minnesota Vikings had a chance to set their mark as a team on the rise in the NFC. They missed it against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 26-14 defeat.

Then again, that loss really could be behind the leg of Dan Bailey more than sub-par play from Kirk Cousins.

Now sitting at 6-7, the Vikings sit in a two-way tie with the Chicago Bears for eighth place in the NFC. While it's looking more like the Arizona Cardinals might be legit enough to make the postseason, anything can happen. And with three weeks remaining in the regular season, it could be too little too late for Minnesota to find the answers.

However, it's not over until the final whistle, meaning anything can happen in the upcoming weeks. Believe it or not, Minnesota still has a chance to represent the NFC North and show that slow starts are the new trendy style in 2020.

Can Minnesota Vikings Still Make Playoffs

Here's Minnesota's best chance for the postseason

Two of the Vikings' final three games rely heavily on winning against their own division. Next week, they'll rematch the Bears, hoping for a clean sweep on the year while they'll close out Week 17 against Detroit.

If the Bears lose, it automatically gives Minnesota the tiebreaker should both teams finish say 8-8. However, even with a win under a hopeful few turnover Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago stills has to close their year out against Green Bay. Given how close the race for the No.1 seed is, don't count on Aaron Rodgers and Co. to tread lightly.

Here's hoping Minnesota could also pull an upset against New Orleans and their red hot defense.

What really matters Arizona, who sits one game ahead. They'll close out the season with games against the Eagles, 49ers and Rams. Sure, San Francisco might be sitting at 5-7, but the team has gone 2-2 in division play.

Arizona will have to lose all three while the Vikings will have to win a pair. More than anything, Mike Zimmer's staff must win next Sunday at home against their NFC North rival to remain alive.

All this could be done on Sunday or it could be just the beginning of a wild and crazy finish in the NFC postseason.

Can The Vikings Still Make The Playoffs 2020

The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears in a rather ugly affair on Monday Night Football, coming away with a 19-13 victory. The win marks the third in a row for Minnesota, bringing them to 4-5. It's hard to believe they've ended up here after a 1-5 start that suggested the Kirk Cousins extension was a massive error and the notable Mike Zimmer defense is finally collapsing.

We were all a bit too early to circle the wagons on Minnesota, it would seem. Dalvin Cook has found his stride and become the engine that drives the entire offense, averaging 155 yards on the ground per game over the Vikings' last three weeks. Cousins has reverted back to the slightly-above average QB the Vikings believed him to be when they offered him the aforementioned extension. He's thrown six touchdowns and only one pick over the course of the winning streak after starting the year throwing six picks in three games. To tie it all together, the defense has awoken, keeping each of their last three opponents to 22 points or fewer. That is admittedly not impressive when it's the Bears or the Lions, but they did so to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Week 8, which is worth noting.

Minnesota has found a winning formula. Rely on Cook and the play-action pass to produce on offense while counting on the defense to keep the score close and capitalize on any mistakes made by the opponent. As long as Cook stays healthy (a rather big if, considering his lengthy injury history), there's little reason to believe they can't keep this level of play up. Could they somehow, some way, keep it up to the point where they're a playoff team?

It will be rather tough. They split their two games with Green Bay this season, but the Packers are 7-2 and unlikely to lose three of their last seven games when only two of those are coming against teams with a winning record. That means the Vikings will be competing for a wild card spot with the division title likely out of reach.

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Those three NFC wild card spots will be hotly contested, though. The Saints just lost Drew Brees for a few weeks, but he will presumably return this season. Therefore, we can count on one of the Saints or Bucs to claim one wild card spot. The NFC West is the best division in football with three teams currently sitting at 6-3. Someone has to win that division, so the Vikings will be battling with the other two NFC West teams for the final two wild card spots. Unfortunately for Minnesota, they lost to Seattle already this year, so they'll lose a tiebreaker if the Seahawks' downward slide continues and they miss out on the NFC West title.

Assuming the Vikings win out and go 11-5, they need at least one of the Seahawks, Cardinals, and Rams to lose two of their last seven games. Alternatively, the Vikings will be in the hunt if the Saints lose three games down the stretch or the Bucs lose two. They would then need to win the tiebreaker in any of these scenarios.

It remains a possibility that one of the above-mentioned teams loses the majority of their games over the remainder of the season and the Vikings can get into the wild card round with no tiebreaker needed. Anything can happen. But the most likely path remains going undefeated for the rest of the year and crossing their fingers that the final spot will come down to a tiebreaker between themselves and another 11-5 team.

Can The Vikings Still Make The Playoffs 2019

As it stands right now, the Vikings' playoff hopes are out of their control. They need to take care of their business and win out, which isn't a gargantuan task. They have two tough games remaining on the schedule against the Bucs and Saints, which could be huge in tiebreaker scenarios. Otherwise, Minnesota plays Dallas, Jacksonville, Carolina, Chicago, and Detroit, which are all very winnable games. If they can do that, all they need is a few stumbles from an NFC West or South team. Improbable? Perhaps. Impossible? Not at all. The Vikings, despite a horrid start, are still very much in the playoff race.