Ravens to win AFC North? Will the Bengals keep playoff hopes alive?

Why Brooke chose the Vikings: Game 272 is for all the NFC balls. The winner claims the division and no. 1 seed in the playoffs, while the loser will be on the road for a wild card meeting next week. The Lions ran into the Vikings in their first meeting in Week 7, and they continue to flex their muscles despite countless injuries to key players. Both Jared Goff and Sam Darnold are playing the best football of their careers thanks to excellent play calling by Ben Johnson and Kevin O’Connell, respectively, and have elite playmakers around them. These two offenses move the ball at will and it’s a beautiful thing to see. The final result thus depends on which defense plays the most on Sunday night. Goff has been great against man coverage all season, throwing for 19 TDs with zero interceptions, but will face a Brian Flores-led unit that plays a lot of zone, which Goff has struggled against at times (17 pass TDs, 10 INTs). Despite playing zone coverage of 74.1 percent from opposing dropbacks, Minnesota’s defense is no slouch when playing man either, allowing a passer rating of 69 percent (lowest in the NFL) and recording the second-most INTs with eight, per Next Gen Stats. On the flip side, Detroit’s defense allows the most yards per game. game (7.4) since Week 14, and it has struggled to get to the quarterback on a regular basis (yes, Aidan Hutchinson still leads the team in sacks despite not playing in the last 11 games). The Lions have relied on the blitz, an area where Darnold thrives, and must find a way to slow down Minnesota’s deep passing attack. The Vikings duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison will look to take advantage of a defense that has allowed 389 yards on deep passes (plus 20 air yards) since Week 14, per Next Gen Stats.

Detroit desperately needs a week off with all the injuries, and Minnesota is gaining some serious momentum heading into the postseason. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Detroit win the season finale, but based on injuries and how each defense is playing right now, I’m going with Minnesota.