Vikings, Lions dispute NFC top seed

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A showdown between Minnesota and Detroit will decide a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the playoffs while two other post-season spots will be decided when the National Football League (NFL) regular season ends Sunday.

Tampa Bay and Denver would capture the last available playoff berths with victories on Sunday but the scene-stealing matchup in Detroit pits two 14-2 clubs with a National Football Conference (NFC) top seed at stake.

The host Lions and visiting Vikings meet in the final game of the regular-season to decide the NFC North division title with the winner getting the NFC top seed, a first-round bye and home-field edge through the playoffs while the loser settles for a fifth seed and likely spends the playoffs on the road.

“We’re well into our preparation for a really big football game and we’re excited for it,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said.

The 28 combined wins are the most by any two clubs in an NFL regular-season contest, breaking the only mark of 25 by New England and the New York Giants in 2007 and Seattle and Indianapolis in 2005.

“We’re all excited but it’s not like it’s the playoffs,” Campbell said.

“We all know it’s still going to come down to the prep and we’ve got to put the work in. You put your best foot forward, give your guys all you can, you cut them loose and let them go make plays and see where you stack up.”

O’Connell sees little impact from Detroit’s 31-29 victory at Minnesota in October.

“Both teams are very different,” he said.

“The journey of a season, both teams are new teams almost every week it feels like, in some capacity.”

“You get to game 17, both teams know who they are and know how they want to play and then it comes down to all these little details and how disciplined each team is going to determine what happens on Sunday.”