Lions favorites over Vikings with NFC North, No. 1 seed on the line

The opening betting lines for Week 18 have been released and the Lions are favorites over the Vikings—with the NFC No. 1 seed and NFC North title on the line.

In Week 18, the Detroit Lions (13-2) will host the Minnesota Vikings (14-2) for the NFC North title, the No. 1 seed in the conference, home-field advantage in the playoffs, and a first-round bye all on the line.

The folks at FanDuel Sportsbook have set the initial betting lines at Lions -2.5 points.

While the Lions still have to play the San Francisco 49ers on “Monday Night Football,” the game is nearly non-consequential, as the Lions hold the tiebreaker over the Vikings—meaning, even if they lose to the 49ers, the Lions can still win it all by beating the Vikings in Week 18.

Despite the Lions’ Week 17 game not holding much value (besides giving Detroit an advantage in the event that there’s a tie game in Week 18) the Lions are not planning on resting their starters.

“I’ll make this easy for everybody that way all the critics can jump out and start attacking, but that way you don’t have to debate them anymore,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said last week. “We’re bringing everything that we have to this game, and we are playing, and I don’t care what it looks like, and where it’s at, or who’s this, who’s that, we’re going out to play and win this game out on the west coast. So, there you go.”

Many will suggest the Lions should take advantage of the opportunity to rest some of their players, but that option does not exist in the current Lions culture. Detroit has something to prove in San Francisco and they want to keep their winning culture at the forefront of their (and everyone’s) minds. There’s value in showing that, despite being banged up, they can win with this roster.

Minnesota comes to town having not lost since Week 7 (Lions) and 8 (Rams), and they’re exuding confidence. The Vikings believe that they’re being disrespected as the Lions get the national attention. They’ll be looking to prove to the rest of the NFL that they’re worthy of the No. 1 seed, and they can accomplish this by beating the team they’ve failed to beat in their previous four chances.

When these two teams faced off earlier in the season, the Lions took the Vikings down to the wire in Minnesota. Kicking a 44-yard field goal to gain a 31-29 lead, then sacking Sam Darnold as time expired on the ensuing possession to get the victory.

The NFL will be hoping for an equal level of drama in Week 18, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if this game is flexed to the final game of the 2024 regular reason on “Sunday Night Football.”