NFL Opening Odds: Vikings underdogs in likely season finale

In what is likely their 2023 finale, the Minnesota Vikings find themselves in the (sadly) familiar position of underdogs.

The Vikings will travel to Ford Field to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday, and the DraftKings Sportsbook has installed them as a 5-point underdog to the team that they lost to by six back in Week 16.

Minnesota had their chances to win that Week 16 matchup despite their inability to hold on to the football, but Nick Mullens’ fourth interception while attempting to hit Justin Jefferson in the end zone preserved a 30-24 Detroit win and their first division title in thirty years.

The Lions are still in play for the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs. In order for them to get there, they have to beat the Vikings and then hope that Dallas stumbles against Washington in Sunday’s late window. If those things happen, Detroit will be the second seed in the conference, but if they don’t get both of those things they’ll be #3.

The Vikings are still, somehow, alive for a playoff spot, if only mathematically. They’d need a win over Detroit and would also need three other results to go their way in order to back into the playoffs as the seventh seed in the conference. Suffice to say, that’s almost certainly not going to happen, so this will be the last time we see the purple until the preseason in August.

Sunday’s game will kick off at noon Central time and will be shown on FOX affiliates around the country.