For the Detroit Lions, Monday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers might not matter a lick for playoff seeding.
If the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday and the Philadelphia Eagles lose or tie against the Dallas Cowboys, the Lions can win the NFC North and lock up No. 1 seed in the playoffs with a win over the Vikings in Week 18, no matter what they do in their NFC championship rematch with the 49ers.
But Lions coach Dan Campbell said he won’t make any personnel decisions for Monday’s game based on how other teams fare this week.
“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,” Campbell said. “We’re bringing everything we got to this game and we are playing, I don’t care what it looks like and where it’s at and 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.”
The Lions and Vikings are tied atop the NFC North with 13-2 records, a game ahead of the Eagles (12-3).
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The Lions currently hold the tiebreaker with the Vikings based on their 31-29 win over the Vikings in Week 7, and would win any tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record even if they lose in Week 18. The Lions have a better conference record than the Vikings, and a better win percentage against common opponents.
If Minnesota wins this week and the Lions lose, the Lions would win the division by sweeping the season series against the Vikings in Week 18.
If the Vikings lose to the Packers, the Lions can clinch the NFC North and No. 1 seed with a win in either of their final two games.
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If the Lions lose their final two games, they would lose the division and be the five seed in the NFC playoffs.
“We know what we’re getting ready to walk into and we know we have to win,” Campbell said. “We have to win, and it’s onto the next one.”
Campbell said he expects left guard Graham Glasgow to return to the lineup this week after missing Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears with a knee injury. Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin also is close to being activated from injured reserve, he said, while the Lions plan to open linebacker Alex Anzalone’s 21-day practice window soon but likely not this week.
Perfect storm
Campbell said the Lions waived safety Brandon Joseph last week due to “the perfect storm” of circumstances surrounding his arrest on suspicion of operating under the influence and their own roster situation.
Joseph, who played as the Lions’ third safety all season, was arrested around 1:47 a.m. Saturday after he was pulled over for speeding by Dearborn Heights police. The Lions also got backup Ifeatu Melifonwu back from injured reserve Sunday and signed defensive linemen Chris Smith and Mitchell Agude from the practice squad to the active roster to help with injuries.
“I think it was the perfect storm, is what it was,” Campbell said. “It was a little bit of both and it was just the perfect storm of circumstances going into that last game, and so we felt like we had to make that move.”
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
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