It was not a weekend for the Detroit Lions. On Sunday, they beat the Minnesota Vikings to win their first division title in 30 years. By the end of Christmas, they had suddenly opened the way to claim the top seed in the conference. Thanks to the San Francisco 49ers’ victory over the Baltimore Ravens, three teams, including the Lions, now have the best record in the conference (11 wins, 4 losses) after 15 games.
Now that we have all the results from Week 16, let’s take a closer look at the NFC playoff picture. The 49ers currently hold the tiebreaker over both the Eagles and Lions thanks to their impressive conference record (9-1). Philly and Detroit are both 7-3 in the conference. The only way to close the gap is for both teams to finish better than the 49ers.Based on the win, Philly temporarily outscored the Lions to tie the game at 4. But that doesn’t matter. This is because other ranking factors change based on the last two weeks.
So what do the Lions need to do to earn a No. 1 seed? Two:Lions win (Cowboys vs. Vikings)49ers lose or tie one more game (Commanders vs. Rams) If the Lions win, it doesn’t matter what the Eagles do in the last two games. Because Detroit will be tied with Philly by virtue of their regular season record (thanks to their theoretical win over the Cowboys).Can the 49ers go 1-1 in their last two games? Commander 4/11 is unlikely to lose next week. Washington has lost six straight and eight of its last nine games. But can this final fight for their playoff lives against the Los Angeles Rams? You can easily lose money.
What better way for the Lions to secure the top spot than with the help of Matthew Stafford?Of course, for all of this to happen, the Lions need to get a big win. Detroit is coming off back-to-back losses to the Cowboys this week, so it won’t be an easy task. But if it clears up the confusion… see
