If you haven’t heard, there’s a fairly big game in Detroit on Sunday night.
If you haven’t heard, the winner will essentially win a playoff game. The team that scores more points between the Vikings and Lions in Week 18 will be the top seed in the NFC. Which means a bye and home games throughout what will be for them will be a two-game path to the Super Bowl.
The loser, as the No. 5 seed, will have to win three games to get to the Super Bowl. And the loser will hit the road the following weekend against the Rams, Buccaneers, or Falcons.
In theory, that could be the No. 5 seed’s only road game. If the No. 7 seed (Green Bay or Washington) wins at Philadelphia and if the No. 6 seed (Green Bay or Washington) wins at L.A. or Tampa, the No. 5 seed would host the No. 6 seed in the divisional round.
Then, if the No. 7 seed upsets the No. 1 seed in the divisional round, the No. 5 seed will host the NFC Championship.
It couldn’t have happened without a seven-team playoff field. In the days of six teams, the No. 5 seed would have played at the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the divisional round — with a slim chance of hosting the No. 6 seed in the conference championship.
There’s a slim chance the No. 5 seed gets two home games in the playoffs, in any year. This year, with the Packers playing at a high level and the Commanders surging, they both could win in the wild-card round. And the No. 7 seed could potentially shock the world in the divisional round by taking out the top seed.
It’s why Sunday night’s game is a weird kind of playoff game. It has playoff-style rewards for the winner. It’s far from the end of the road for the loser.
