Minnesota Vikings: Ranking non-divisional games in 2019
By Luke Parrish
The Minnesota Vikings head into the 2019 NFL season with a difficult schedule ahead. Aside from their tough NFC North foes, the rest of the schedule is brutal.
Every NFL team plays 16 games per season. Six of those games are designated to divisional matchups in a home-and-home scenario throughout the season. In the 2019 season, the Minnesota Vikings are set to play one of the toughest schedules in the NFL.
According to CBS Sports, the Minnesota Vikings have the second-toughest schedule based on a series of indicators that can be found in their rankings. The Vikings are preemptively set to play in five primetime games in 2019.
The NFL has a rotating schedule of divisional matchups. NFC divisions play AFC divisions on a revolving circuit every four years. This year, the NFC North is slated to meet the AFC West. They also play the NFC East in 2019.
Meanwhile, the two remaining games are decided by each team’s finish the previous year. The Vikings finished 2018 in second place of the NFC North, so they will meet with the second-place finishers from the NFC West and NFC South as well. All in all, the Vikings will have their work cut out for them this year.
Divisional games hold a wealth of importance for obvious reasons. That said, I will leave them out of these rankings to focus on the rest of the pack. Instead, the non-divisional games are worth taking a closer look.
These rankings resemble the best games to watch this season. Factors include strength of opponent, impact on playoff potential and the matchups presented, among other things.