DETROIT – The Detroit Lions are back in San Francisco for a primetime rematch of the NFC Championship Game on Monday Night Football.
Last time, a spot in the Super Bowl was on the line. This time, the game doesn’t matter.
Sure, the Lions will still try to win -- not only to avenge how last year ended, but also because that’s the kind of culture Dan Campbell has installed.
But in terms of the playoff picture, Monday night’s game is completely meaningless, thanks to the Vikings' win over the Packers on Sunday evening.
If the Packers had won, the Lions could have clinched the NFC North and the No. 1 seed with a win in San Francisco. Instead, no matter what happens against the 49ers, everything comes down to next week’s Vikings-Lions game at Ford Field.
If the Lions beat the Vikings in Week 18, they will earn the No. 1 seed, which comes with a first-round bye and home field advantage through the NFC Championship Game.
But if the Lions lose, they’ll drop to the top wildcard spot and settle for the No. 5 seed in the conference, which means hitting the road to play the worst NFC division winner in the wildcard round.
Nothing that happens in San Francisco can change that.
The reason a Vikings loss could have given the Lions a chance to clinch on Monday is because the Lions own the tiebreakers with both the Vikings and Eagles.
Minnesota would have had an extra loss in the division and Philadelphia has more conference losses than the Lions. So the Lions could have locked up the top spot on Monday night and essentially taken two weeks (a meaningless Week 18 and the first-round bye) to get healthy for the playoffs.
Instead, the stakes will be sky-high at Ford Field next week. In terms of Super Bowl chances, having a first-round bye and home field advantage can make all the difference.
