The Detroit Lions (10-4) will be hoping to open one of their Christmas presents a day early when they face NFC North rival the Minnesota Vikings (7-7) in Week 16 on Christmas Eve. That present will be one that has been awaited much longer than the year-long wait for the annual holiday. It’s three decades in the making.
If the Lions can capture their 11th win on Sunday, they’ll not only be able to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, they’ll claim their first division title in 30 years. The last time the Lions were able to call themselves the division champs, the NFC North wasn’t even a thing. Back then, they were in the NFC Central, which was essentially the same as the current North division, just with a fifth team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added.
After this long, the Lions wouldn’t care what the division is called as long as they can call themselves champions. That term doesn’t come around often in the city of Detroit. With an 11th win, it would also be the first time the Lions have won that number of games since 2016. But with three games remaining, they have an opportunity to record a season-high win total of 13 games.
First, they have to get through a Vikings team that is barely hanging onto the 6th seed in the Wild Card right now. Now, let’s get into some Lions bold predictions for Week 16 versus the Vikings.