It all comes down to this: the Minnesota Vikings (14-2) and the Detroit Lions (14-2) square off on Sunday night to see which franchise wins the NFC North crown and the top overall seed for their conference’s playoff bracket.
Minnesota is on a nine-game winning streak, having last lost to the Los Angeles Rams in October. Since then, the Vikings have won six games by one score or less, showing that Minnesota is finding ways to win football games.
Detroit’s last loss was midway through December to the Buffalo Bills in a wild 48-42 shootout. The Lions had won 11 straight games prior to that Bills’ loss at home. Since then, Detroit has earned back-to-back victories against a pair of non-playoff teams.
Will the Lions or Vikings win this postseason-defining matchup? We’ll cover that and our three favorite player prop bets for Sunday’s game below.
Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold is the odds-on favorite to win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award after his 2024 showing. This season, he’s completed 68.1 percent of his passes for 4,153 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
He’s only surpassed the 290-yard mark on three occasions in 2024, but last week’s outing against Green Bay was one of them. In that matchup, he completed 33 of his 43 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Vikings to a 27-25 victory.
Detroit’s pass defense is the second-worst in the league, yielding 250.4 passing yards per game. Expect Minnesota to take advantage of this and for Darnold to have a big game, finishing with back-to-back 300-yard outings for the Vikings.
Detroit has a two-headed monster of a rushing game with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Montgomery is currently nursing an injury, keeping him from playing. That leaves Gibbs as the featured back, and he’s made the most of it over the past two weeks.
With Gibbs taking the lion’s share of the Lions’ carries, he’s posted back-to-back 100-yard rushing days and averaged over 5.5 yards per rush. Don’t expect that trend to continue as the Vikings possess the second-best rushing defense, keeping Gibbs from covering this player prop bet.
Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson set the price for his position as he signed a four-year, $140 million contract with the Vikings this offseason. He’s lived up to that deal this season, nabbing 100 passes for 1,479 yards and 10 touchdowns, stats that all rank in the top seven among the NFL this season.
Jefferson will be ready for this rematch on Sunday, especially with a primetime audience watching the famous receiver’s every move. Expect him to surpass his totals in the previous matchup – seven receptions, 81 yards – with ease as he covers this player prop bet.
It’s rare to see oddsmakers go over 55 combined points for an NFL game, but this matchup certainly warrants it. In their first game, the two teams combined for 60 points as Detroit posted a 31-29 victory.
If the oddsmakers had broached the 60-point plateau, this would still be the best bet. Detroit’s defense is one of the weakest for any Super Bowl contender because the team takes so many gambles. Expect this game to finish above 65 points as the Lions earn a close victory on Sunday.
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