3 Teams Minnesota Vikings fans should cheer for in NFL Playoffs
The Minnesota Vikings aren’t in the NFL Playoffs so who should fans be rooting for?
This weekend, the NFL will kick off postseason play when a field of 14 teams take part in the AFC and NFC Playoffs. Unfortunately for the Minnesota Vikings, they are one of the teams watching all of that action from home this season.
After finishing the season with a record of 7-9 overall, Minnesota failed to return to the postseason after managing to advance to the NFC Divisional Round in 2019 before falling to the San Francisco 49ers in that game.
After trying to battle back into the playoffs this year and having a chance to do just that in the final few weeks of the regular season schedule, a late-season struggled bounced the Vikings from the postseason picture and the purple and gold will now kick off the offseason while 14 teams continue their seasons in pursuit of a Super Bowl title.
This weekend, there will be a trio of playoff games in the league on both Saturday and Sunday, with a mix of AFC and NFC squads playing each day during the Wild Card Round.
To kick off play on Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts will face the Buffalo Bills, the Los Angeles Rams will play the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will battle the Washington Football Team.
On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens will take on the Tennessee Titans, the Chicago Bears will play the New Orleans Saints and the Cleveland Browns will travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers in the opening round.
With those teams taking part in the Wild Card Round, the Green Bay Packers (No. 1 seed in the NFC) and the Kansas City Chiefs (No. 1 seed in the AFC) will receive a bye while awaiting their opponents in the Divisional Round.
As the Wild Card Round of the postseason commences and Minnesota doesn’t take part in it, here are some teams in the NFC that Vikings fans could cheer and root for throughout the playoffs.
3. Los Angeles Rams
The first team that Minnesota Vikings fans could root for in the NFC Wild Card Round is the Los Angeles Rams, who are entering the postseason as the No. 6 seed and in the middle Wild Card spot.
To begin the playoffs, Los Angeles will hit the road to take on the third-seeded Seattle Seahawks, with that game taking place at 4:40 p.m. ET on Saturday on FOX from Lumen Field in Seattle.
When looking at this matchup, Seattle is likely going to be a favorite in the game that could end up being a high-scoring affair by the end of the contest. At full strength, both the Seahawks and Rams have solid offensive groups with Los Angeles holding the advantage on the defensive side of the ball.
One of the big things that will weigh heavily on the outcome of this game will be the status of Rams quarterback Jared Goff, who’s status for the game is uncertain after suffering a right thumb injury at the end of the regular season. If Goff plays, this game should be entertaining.
The reason Vikings fans should root for the Rams rather than the Seahawks in this game is due to the history between Minnesota and Seattle in the past. The Seahawks have had the Vikings’ number over the years, including in the playoffs, which has rubbed Minnesota fans the wrong way for years.
Regardless of the outcome, the winner of this game will end up advancing to take on the winner of No. 2 New Orleans Saints/No. 7 Chicago Bears game next weekend in the NFC Divisional Round.