3 Teams Minnesota Vikings fans should cheer for in NFL Playoffs

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Another squad that could be worth Minnesota football fans in general rooting for in the NFC Playoffs that kick off this weekend with the Wild Card Round is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The new-look Buccaneers, who are now led by legendary quarterback Tom Brady and company, hold the No. 5 seed and the top Wild Card spot in the NFC after an 11-5 finish to the regular season.

As Tampa Bay aims to advance to the Super Bowl, which will be played in Tampa Bay this year, the Buccaneers will open up the playoffs by hitting the road to play the fourth-seeded Washington Football Team in the night game on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC.

Washington will host the game with a record of 7-9 overall after winning the NFC East, which was awful this year, but Tampa Bay will be heavily favored in this game while featuring talent on both sides of the ball and appear to be hitting its stride at just the right time.

Included in that talent both on offense and defense include a few ties to Minnesota and players who Vikings fans are familiar with. Those two players feature rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and rookie wide receiver Tyler Johnson, who are both in their first seasons in the NFL after completing their collegiate careers at the University of Minnesota.

Winfield, the son of former Vikings great Antoine Winfield, was selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, with Johnson being selected by the Buccaneers in the fifth round. Both players have seen the field a decent amount this year, which speaks to their talent and ability to adapt to the NFL as rookies.

As Tampa Bay and Washington aim to advance to play the top-seeded Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Round next weekend, the Vikings might have some bias towards the Buccaneers while watching the playoffs unfold.