Yahoo Sports fantasy analysts Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski look ahead to Sunday night’s clash between the NFC North rivals that will have massive implications on the playoff picture. Hear the full conversation on the “Yahoo Fantasy Forecast” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
Vikings at lions, I mean.
What, what a time to be alive.
We’re talking about the Sam Darnold-led Minnesota Vikings going into Detroit to battle for the NFC’s number one seed, uh, a tie, by the way, does go to Detroit, obviously, if, if that is what happens here, but hopefully we just get a good clean win.
We don’t get any of that.
Yeah.
I don’t see Dan Campbell ever playing for a tie.
I don’t, I don’t think I was just gonna say the same thing.
Even if, even if he won with a tie, he’d be like, no, we want the win.
We, we don’t want to back into it, yeah, for sure.
Yeah, let’s talk Vikings when.
have the ball.
Scott, um, I’m just curious what you’ve seen from this team, what you’re expecting to see from this team here in week 18 in a matchup that, again, the entire nation will be watching, uh, what’s been one of the most fun offenses in the NFL period, full stop.
People basically gave them up for dead when McCarthy got hurt and you know, Ken Darnold even, you know, just be a quasi-competent quarterback in his breakthrough season.
Darnold has been so good, man.
So, so I mean, every week his ratings over 100, he pushed the ball down field.
He has so much arm talent.
And one of my favorite stats I love to bring up because this is never changing, Matt, is Sam Darnold’s younger than Joe Burrow.
The run out for Arnold was so unlucky.
He got Mono with the Jets of all things.
Everything went wrong there.
He landed in Carolina at a time when that was a totally untenable situation.
Uh, uh, Sam Darnold’s a great player, man.
I’m so excited to see it.
O’Connell is a perfect coach for him.
He’s got the, the Ideal setup.
Jefferson, the Alpha, Addison, a very, very good number.
Jordan Addison’s been terrific this year and one of my favorite players to watch.
I just love how O’Connell’s always calm.
I’m ready to follow Kevin O’Connell into a burning building.
It just breaks my heart, man.
I love both of these teams.
I would love to see the Detroit Lions or Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl.
They, they’re both worthy.
And, you know, somebody’s gonna win the division, be the 1 seed, somebody’s gonna lose and be the 5 seed.
It just doesn’t seem fair to me.
It’s crazy because these are two of the best teams in the league.
Um, obviously, Minnesota is the apple of everybody’s eye right now, um, but it would be wild if after the season, the Detroit Lions had, that they’re not gonna be, uh, the number one seed in the NFC.
They’re not gonna have a home playoff game.
That would blow my mind, but it would make sense just because they could lose this matchup against the Vikings because that’s how good that team is playing right now.
But again, it seems crazy to me just.
Based on, uh, how, how, how well the Lions have played and, and, you know, they were my Super Bowl pick pick heading into the year.
Uh, I think they’ve played mostly like they’ve weathered attrition, they’ve weathered injuries.
That’s an important, I mean, that is the, the whole thing of their season this year is just what they’ve been able to overcome.