The National Football League has finalized its Week 18 schedule, and to no one's surprise, the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers will not be featured in any of the marquee time slots on Saturday and Sunday.
Instead, the rivalry game will kick off at 12 p.m. CT from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where the Packers are literally playing for nothing while the Vikings are trying to finish the season on a five-game win streak.
Green Bay is locked into the No. 7 seed. The only unknown for the Packers is where they'll be traveling on Wild Card Weekend, and that's completely out of their control. Their only options are Chicago or Philadelphia, which are battling for the No. 2 and 3 seeds. Minnesota will finish the season either 9-8 or 8-9. The only difference between the two is draft position. If the Vikings beat the Packers, the Colts lose at Houston, and Pittsburgh beats Baltimore, it'll be the 18th pick for Minnesota. That is the lowest possible selection for a non-playoff team. If the Vikings lose and finish 8-9, their draft position will be determined by the results of other games featuring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , Dallas Cowboys , Detroit Lions , Baltimore Ravens , and Carolina Panthers .Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 7:20 p.m. For the highest possible pick, the Vikings need to lose while the Bucs, Cowboys, Colts, Lions, and Ravens all win. In that scenario, the Vikings, Panthers, and Bucs would be 8-9, but the Bucs would win the NFC South, leaving the 13th pick to the Vikings or Panthers. The tiebreaker would come down to the lower strength of schedule. Entering Week 18, the Vikings' SOS is .515, compared to .520 for the Panthers. Miami could also finish 8-9 with a win at New England on Sunday, but the Dolphins' weaker strength of schedule means they'll pick before the Vikings in a tiebreaker.Meanwhile, the No. 1 seeds in the NFC and AFC are up for grabs in Week 18. In the AFC, the Broncos clinch the top seed with a win over the Chargers. New England gets it with a win over Miami, coupled with a Denver loss. Jacksonville can earn the No. 1 seed with a win over the Titans and losses by Denver and New England. The top seed in the NFC will go to the winner of Saturday night's game between the Seahawks and 49ers. It's winner-take-all, as the Rams are locked into the No. 5 seed and can't win the NFC West. Four divisions are also up for grabs: AFC North , AFC South , NFC West , and the NFC South . Three of the four battles will be decided in head-to-head matchups, while the AFC South is Jacksonville's with a win over Tennessee, and Houston's if they beat Indianapolis and the Jaguars lose.Joe Nelson has more than 20 years of experience in Minnesota sports journalism. Nelson began his career in sports radio, working at smaller stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before moving to the highly-rated KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. While there, he produced the popular mid-morning show hosted by Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen. His time in radio laid the groundwork for his transition to sports writing in 2011. He covers the Vikings, Timberwolves, Gophers and Twins for On SI.Perfect weekend sets Vikings up to dagger Detroit, possibly Green Bay
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