A few weeks back we started taking a look at the playoff chances of the Minnesota Vikings

and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings Hats teams in the NFC North, on a week to week basis. Since we started delving into this, the Vikings have had two big wins (Jets, Lions) a crippling loss at home to New Orleans in the race for a first round bye, and now that we’ve had a head to head division game against Detroit, things are becoming even more clear. If this is the first time you’ve come across this new series, you can get caught up here and here.If you don’t want to take the time to get caught up, a quick primer, if I may: I’ve been using two sites to help with playoff percentages and seeding, the 538 playoff predictor, and Playoff Predictions dot com, which allow you to waste hours of your day coming up with ‘if-then’ win-loss scenarios to see who is in and who is out of the playoffs. The last two weeks have been a roller coaster for the Vikings and the playoffs. After the Jets game their post season chances shot up to 68%:But after the home loss to New Orleans, it dropped to pretty much 50-50:That loss to the Saints made the Lions game almost a ‘must win’ game, and thankfully, they did win. What’s that? Matthew Stafford just got sacked coming off the plane on the Detroit tarmac? Brutal.Anyways, let’s go to 538’s playoff model to see where things stand today:For the first time since we started looking closely at this, two NFC North teams have over a 50% chance to reach the playoffs. Minnesota’s playoff chances jumped from 51% to 58%, but Chicago took the biggest leap, jumping 15% to 55%. And the division is now going to be won by either Chicago or Minnesota, barring epic collapses by both.There’s a reason the Vikings-Bears game two weeks from now was flexed to Sunday night, and Minnesota has gone from clear-cut division favorite three weeks ago to yet another must win game coming up against Chicago. In Soldier Field, mind you, where the Vikings have done oh so well in recent years. Minnesota is still the favorite to win the division, even though they are currently in second place, and they’ve actually won two of their last three in Chicago, and six of seven overall against the Bears. But going to Chicago will always give me ‘oh my God how did Chad Hutchinson play so well’ kind of nightmares, and that game always fills me with doubt. Heck, the Bears almost won there last year, had it not been for a game saving interception by Harrison Smith. So yeah, this game against the Bears is huge Minnesota Vikings Hoodie , as will be the season finale at US Bank Stadium.On the flip side, though, whatever chances Green Bay and Detroit had to make the playoffs pretty much ended yesterday. The Packers lost their second straight game, this one to New England on Sunday Night, and have now lost three of four and find themselves at 3-4-1 on the year. Detroit was dealt what looks to be a mortal blow with their 24-9 loss to the Vikings. After climbing out of 0-2 and 1-3 holes to get to 3-3, consecutive losses have them at 3-5, and ended most realistic scenarios for Detroit to make the post-season.Still, it’s not over for either team. Heck, I remember a Vikings team that was at 6-6 in 2012, and needed to win four games in a row to make the playoffs, and they did. Heck, in 2016, the Packers were at 4-6, and ran the table all the way to the NFC Championship game. Nothing is impossible, but neither team did themselves any favors in the last couple weeks.If we go to the playoff predictions website, we can see where everyone stands in terms of conference seeding. As I mentioned earlier, the Bears are in first place in the division, and are currently the number three seed in the NFC. The Vikings have made their way back into the sixth and final seed, after being out of the playoff picture last week. The Packers are the 10th seed, dropping two spots, and Detroit stayed at the 13th spot, which is no change from last week. Had Detroit won yesterday’s game and nothing else changed, the sixth seed in the playoffs would be the 4-4 Falcons, with Detroit eighth and the Vikes ninth. Had the Bears somehow lost to the Bills yesterday with no other changes, the Vikings would be leading the division, they would be the fourth seed behind the Saints, Rams, and Redskins, with the Bears taking the sixth seed.Speaking of losses to Buffalo, that Bills loss is really looming large right now. If the Vikings had won that game in week three...like literally everyone expected them to...Minnesota would be the third seed right now www.thevikingsfootballauthentic.com , with Washington, Carolina and Chicago rounding out the NFCplayoff picture. The Packers tie as opposed to a win in week two also has the same net effect as the Bills game, as Minnesota would be the third seed in...if Daniel Carlson made his field goal at the end of overtime. Or his one earlier in overtime, or his...never mind, you get the idea.Minnesota got through one hurdle against the Lions, and pretty much knocked Detroit out. They now enter the bye week with a chance to get Stefon Diggs and Anthony Barr back for the stretch run, which kicks off with their titanic matchup against the Bears in two weeks for the division lead at stake.It’s getting fun, isn’t it? It’s time to take our weekly look back at the Minnesota Vikings and their opponent for the upcoming week. On Sunday, the Vikings will have their third road game in four weeks against the New York Jets, who will be hosting their third straight home game.These two non-conference opponents have both been around for quite a while, but they haven’t faced each other many times over the years. This will be only the 11th matchup between the two teams. Before the current scheduling formula ensured that no teams would go more than three seasons without playing each other in the regular season, the Vikings and Jets once went almost twelve full years between games. As you’ll see, the small sample size has been largely in favor of one team.As always, all numbers are brought to you by the invaluable Pro Football Reference.Games between the Vikings and the Jets: 10 (all in the regular season)All-time record: Jets, 8-2Total Vikings points scored, head-to-head: 172 (17.2 points/game)Total Jets points scored, head-to-head: 250 (25.0 points/game)Longest Vikings winning streak vs Jets: 1, twiceLongest Jets winning streak vs Vikings: 7, 15 October 1979 to 11 October 2010Most recent Vikings road win in series: NeverMost recent Jets home win in series: 11 October 2010 (final score 29-20)Biggest Vikings road win in series: NeverBiggest Jets home win in series: 28 points, 26 December 1982 (final score 42-14)Current streak: Vikings, 1 winThe Vikings are attempting to do something they have never done in the history of their franchise on Sunday: beat the Jets on the road. They have failed in their five previous visits to New York and New Jersey. (The two meetings in the 1970’s were at Shea Stadium, before the Jets and Giants both shared Giants Stadium and then MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.)The last game the Vikings played in New York didn’t have the result they wanted, but it was still incredibly memorable. Brett Favre threw his 500th career touchdown pass to Randy Moss late in the third quarter for Minnesota’s first points of the night.Favre would throw two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to Percy Harvin to get the Vikings within two points late, but his last touchdown of the game was a pick-six to Dwight Lowery that sealed the game for the Jets.The last game between these two teams took place at TCF Bank Stadium in 2014. That one was pretty memorable in its own right. Percy Harvin scored a touchdown in that one too, except this time he was playing for the opponents. The back-and-forth affair went to overtime knotted at 24-24. After the Vikings forced a punt on New York’s opening drive of the extra stanza, rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater found Jarius Wright on a quick out. And that was the ballgame.You might recognize that #91 in white and green that was in pursuit of Wright before he pulled away down the sideline: none other than current Vikings defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. He sacked Bridgewater for a safety in the first quarter of that game, giving the Jets their first points of the day. This will be Richardson’s first game against the team that drafted him with the 13th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.There’s your brief look back at the relatively brief history between the Vikings and Jets. We’ll see whether the Vikings can win their third game in a row and their first game ever over the Jets in enemy territory.