Vikings get ZERO help

The Vikings faint but slightly resurrected playoff hopes hinge on two things. One is that we gotta do our part and win, starting with MNF tomorrow. But we also need these teams ahead of us to lose some games. 

This seemed like a prime Sunday to get some of that outside help. 

And we got NONE. It was a total disaster of a day from a hopeful Vikings fan perspective. 

The early window of games teased us, as the Christian McCaffrey-less Panthers were hanging with Tampa. And most improbably, the Packers were struggling badly at home against the Jaguars. I had written off the division, but a Packer loss would mean we could pull within 2. 

Neither was meant to be. The Packers pulled out a win due to a combo of Jacksonville being hideous, and naturally a fair share of ref ball. And the Panthers spent the 2nd half doing just about everything wrong you can do, and Tampa won in big fashion.

The late window saw the Rams beat Seattle as Russell Wilson, who could do no wrong against us when it counted, played like a complete buffoon.

The Saints lost Drew Brees, but didn't lose the game, as they crushed by the 49ers.

Most crushing was the Bills vs Cardinals. Buffalo had a 2 touchdown lead in the 2nd half. Kyler Murray wiped that out and put Arizona ahead. Then Josh Allen hit Diggs for a go ahead score with about 30 seconds left. Whew! We got one good result! 

Well no we didn't, cause Murray hit DeAndre Hopkins on a hail mary with 2 seconds left and the Cardinals won.

So, for those of you scoring at home, of the 6 teams that began the day in a playoff spot (not counting the Eagles, who are not relevant to us), 5 of the 6 won, and the only team to lose was Seattle, who have a tiebreaker on us.

So a week that gave us at least a fair chance to pull within a game of a wild card spot instead will end with us still at best 2 games back of the Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks.

And that's if we can break the Soldier Field hex. That game is now a must win. It really is. 9-7 might not be enough now. You lose at Chicago and it's a 3 game gap with 7 to go, plus you would then be 2 back of the Bears as well.

In other games that don't impact the Vikings, the headliner was the Steelers crushing the Bengals to go 9-0. I still don't think they have any chance to run the table. They still have the Ravens, Bills and Colts, plus week 17 against a Browns team that might need the win.

The Giants beat Philly and now hilariously sit just a game and a half back at 3-7.

In the AFC undercard, the Browns won an ugly won over Houston, Miami beat the Chargers, the Raiders crushed Denver, and the Ravens dropped one in New England. 9 AFC teams are 6-3 or better.