Vikings schedule: Ranking Minnesota's final six opponents by order of importance

At 9-2 following their Week 12 win over the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings are in great shape heading into the final third of this 2024 NFL season.

While still one game back of the Detroit Lions in the highly competitive NFC North, which has proven to be the best division in football, the Vikes would claim the top wild-card berth in the conference if the season ended tomorrow.

The Vikes are one game up on the Green Bay Packers, who currently hold the No. 6 slot at 8-3, and own a three-game advantage in the loss column over the Washington Commanders, who sit in the No. 7 position at 7-5.

Minnesota also holds a full three-game lead over the Arizona Cardinals (No. 8, 6-5), who they'll host this Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, and are up four games on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 9, 5-6), Los Angeles Rams (No. 10, 5-6), and San Francisco 49ers (No. 11, 5-6).

That's a nice place to be with just six weeks remaining.

All that said, however, the Vikings have the fourth-toughest remaining schedule in the league based on win-loss records, as five of their six remaining contests are against teams over .500, including three division leaders. The only team below .500 they have left are the same Bears they just beat this past Sunday.

Let's have a look at Minnesota's six remaining opponents, ranking them by who should be the most challenging down to who should be the easiest.

Week 18: at Detroit Lions

The Lions are clearly the best team in the NFC at this point and may just be the best team in the entire league, as they really don't have many weaknesses on either side of the football.

That said, the Vikings proved they could hang with Detroit back in Week 7, giving the Lions all they could handle before ultimately taking a 31-29 loss.

The importance of this game remains to be seen, as it doesn't take place until the final week of the season. The Lions do have some tough games of their own down the stretch, including one against the Buffalo Bills and their second matchup with Green Bay, so there's a chance this Week 18 battle could decide the NFC North.

On the flip side, of course, this game might not mean a thing if seeding is wrapped up before then.

Week 17: vs. Green Bay Packers

With the Packers still very much in contention for the division and in a great spot of their own in the wild-card race, Minnesota's matchup with Green Bay in Week 17 could have major postseason implications.

While the Vikings only beat the Packers by two in Week 4, the 31-29 final wasn't indicative of how dominant Minnesota was for most of that game.

Minnesota was up 28-0 midway through the second quarter and took a 28-7 lead into the fourth, at which point the Packers woke up and made things more interesting.

What must be remembered, though, is that was Jordan Love's first game back after missing two weeks with a knee injury. The Packers have only lost once since then, and that was to Detroit. So, they're clearly a team to be reckoned with.

Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks have been a bit inconsistent since their 3-0 start, but they can still be a dangerous team when healthy, as the Cardinals just found out this past weekend.

Now leading the NFC West after their 16-6 win over Arizona, the Seahawks have won three of their last five. One of their two losses in this stretch came to the red-hot Bills, and the other was in overtime to the Rams.

So, this team is right there in the mix.

Seattle isn't nearly as strong at home these days, going just 8-7 at Lumen Field since the start of last season. But that doesn't mean the Vikings will just waltz in and claim a victory.

Week 13: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Truth be told, we were torn on where the Cardinals and Seahawks would rank here, but with Seattle shutting down Arizona's offensive attack this past week, we were almost forced to go with the Seahawks.

What happened against the Seahawks could easily just be chalked up to a bad week, as the Cardinals averaged 26.3 points in the four games leading into that game with Seattle, all of which resulted in victories.

If the Vikings can shut down the Cardinals' offense the way the Seahawks were able to, they should walk away with a victory.

Week 14: vs. Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons will roll into U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 14, and the big storyline here will obviously be Kirk Cousins facing the team he led for six seasons.

At times this season, Cousins and the Falcons as a whole have looked fantastic, but that hasn't been the case lately.

In the two games before their bye this past week, both of which were losses, Cousins failed to throw a touchdown pass in either but did throw a pick in each.

But the offense isn't the biggest concern in Atlanta these days. Heading into this week, the Falcons' are allowing the eighth-most points per game (24.9) in the league and the eighth-most total yards (357.1) per contest. The Vikings' offense should feast in this one.

Week 15: vs. Chicago Bears

Last and least at this point, we've got the Chicago Bears, who haven't won a game since October 13.

Now, it undoubtedly has to be noted that three defeats during this five-game losing streak came on the game's final play.

There was the Jayden Daniels Hail Mary against Washington. Then came the blocked field goal against Green Bay. And then there was this past Sunday's overtime loss to the Vikings, who should have never allowed Chicago to get in that position in the first place, as they blew an 11-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

Up until that point, Minnesota was utterly dominant on both sides of the ball. And that should be the case again when the Vikings host the Bears in Week 15 on Monday Night Football. They just can't get complacent at the end like they did last week and risk losing a game they should have won by double-digits.