DETROIT – How soon can the Detroit Lions officially clinch a playoff spot, and what needs to happen?
Nobody is worried about whether or not the Lions are going to make the postseason. We all know it’ll happen. But I was curious how soon they could wrap this thing up.
Turns out: very soon.
How Lions can clinch by next Thursday
The Lions are 10-1 and have the best record in the NFC. The race for the No. 1 seed is still very much up in the air, but a playoff spot could be locked up in nine days.
Here’s how the Lions could lock up a playoff spot by next Thursday:
- Lions beat Bears on Thanksgiving Day.
- Titans beat Commanders on Sunday afternoon.
- Lions beat Packers on Thursday Night Football (Dec. 5).
If the Lions win the next two games, then the worst record they could possibly finish with is 12-5.
The Buccaneers and 49ers already have six losses, and in this scenario, so would the Commanders.
The Cardinals are 6-5, but even if they win out, the Lions would get in over them because of the head-to-head win.
That means the worst the Lions could finish would be No. 7 in the NFC.
Why not this week?
The Lions could get very close to clinching a playoff spot this weekend, but it’s technically not quite possible.
What if every single game goes like this over the weekend:
- Lions beat Bears.
- Vikings beat Cardinals.
- Titans beat Commanders.
- Saints beat Rams.
- Panthers beat Buccaneers.
- Bills beat 49ers.
Well, there’s one tiebreaker that would stop this from resulting in a Lions clinch.
Let’s say this plays out and the Lions and Commanders both finish 11-6. The Cardinals aren’t relevant to this discussion because even at 11-6, they would lose tiebreakers to both the Lions and Commanders.
The Lions would finish with a 7-5 record in the NFC, while the Commanders would be 9-3 in the conference.
Since the Lions and Commanders don’t play head-to-head, conference record would be the first tiebreaker. So the Lions could technically still finish eighth in the NFC in this scenario.
Races that matter
Like I said, nobody is paying much attention to the Lions clinching a playoff spot because it’s inevitable. But the two races that actually matter are both very much up in the air.
The Lions' first priority is to win the NFC North again and lock up at least two home playoff games. The winners of the North and East divisions will get the top two seeds in the conference, so the division title is crucial.
Despite their nine-game winning streak, the Lions have very little breathing room. The Vikings (9-2) are 4-0 in November and just one game behind the Lions in the standings, while the Packers (8-3) are two games back.
The Eagles are the only non-North contender for the No. 1 seed, and they’re currently one game behind the Lions, at 9-2.
So while the Lions sure look like the best team in the NFL, their work is far from done.
