Title hopes? Vikings have NFC North's easiest schedule in final weeks

Detroit advanced its lead in the NFC North to two games and Green Bay improved to 6-6 Sunday. The Vikings dropped to 6-6 after Thursday's loss to Dallas.

The race for the division championship will leave little room for error in the final four weeks of the regular season.

The Vikings and Packers will most likely have to win their final four games and the division to claim a playoff berth. The Lions have a difficult final stretch, but own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Vikings. Detroit lost its first meeting with Green Bay and they won't meet again until the season finale.

The Vikings have 1-in-3 odds of making the playoffs and 1-in-6 odds of winning the division according to makeNFLplayoffs.com, arguing the likely path to the postseason would be through the wild card. The Lions are currently the No. 3 seed in the NFC, the Vikings are No. 8 and the Packers No. 9.

Here is a look at the three team's remaining schedules:

Vikings
The Vikings arguably have the least-difficult schedule of the three teams.

Away: Jacksonville, Dec. 11, noon
The Jaguars are 2-10 and the second-worst team in the AFC. They have lost seven straight games.

Away: Green Bay, Dec. 24, noon
The Packers have won their last two games to put themselves back in the race for a postseason berth.

Home: Chicago, Jan. 1, noon
The Bears are one of the worst teams in the league, but have wins against the Lions and Vikings.

Vote here: How many of their final four games will the Vikings win?

Detroit
The Lions have the toughest remaining schedule of the three NFC North contenders.

Home: Chicago, Dec. 11, noon
The Bears' first win, and only one of three this season, was against the Lions.

Away: Dallas, Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m.
The Cowboys are 11-1 and the best team in the NFL.

Home: Green Bay, Jan. 1, noon
The Packers are 2-1 in the division and already have a win against the Lions.

Green Bay
The Packers will have to get past all three division rivals if they hope to rally for the NFC North title.

Home: Seattle, Dec. 11, 3:25 p.m.
The Seahawks are 8-3-1 and have won four of their last five games. They have yet to face an NFC North opponent this season.

Away: Chicago, Dec. 18, noon
The Bears will try to play the upset role in the NFC North in the final month of the season. Though they are 3-9 overall, they are 2-1 in the division.