Who has homefield advantage, who is going to No. 5 in seeding?
The San Francisco 49ers’ 2024 season is over. The NFL regular season ends tonight on Sunday Night Football, with the Minnesota Vikings traveling to face the Detroit Lions. The winner of the game will receive not only the NFC North but also the No. 1 seed for the NFL playoffs.
The 49ers were in a similar situation during the 2019 season in their final game against the Seattle Seahawks on the road. The 49ers won thanks to Dre Greenlaw doing his best Dan Bunz impression, stopping a Seahawk touchdown inches from the goal line. However, the 49ers went on to lose the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.
When they first met, the Lions managed to get out of Minnesota with a field goal, putting them up by two and giving the Vikings only 15 seconds to do anything. You can guess nothing much happened in those 15 seconds.
The Lions have one of, if not the best, offense in the NFL, but they have the exact opposite on defense, as shown last Monday against the 49ers. The Lion’s method is to score a ton of points and slow the other team down from trying to do the same. The 49ers had a scoring play (or a chance for one, if you consider Jake Moody’s misses) in nearly every possession, something they haven’t done all season.
The Vikings are a much more complete team. They have two losses on the year: the aforementioned Lions game and the Los Angeles Rams. Despite that, they have been rolling despite quarterback Sam Darnold’s few rough spots. Look at his games against the New York Jets or the Chicago Bears if you are curious about what I’m talking about.
FanDuel Sportsbook has the Lions favored by 2.5 points. Despite the favors, I will go with the Vikings to win this. While the Lions have a high-powered offense, I think the Vikings will get them back for the loss in Minnesota. It will be close, but 2.5 points isn’t enough to make me swing the other way. I don’t feel great about it.
The over-under is set at 56.5. Given the defensive issues of the Lions and their offense, bet the over and hope for the best. Not confident on that one either.
The postseason begins after this, and the 49ers will have a lot of questions that they need to answer.