CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- I wrote a piece in today's Star Tribune about how coach Brad Childress might elect to rest some of his regulars if the Vikings become locked into the second seed in the NFC.
This was done on Friday with the thought that the New Orleans Saints would probably improve to 14-0 with a victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night. That did not happen. The Cowboys upset the Saints to leave New Orleans with a 13-1 record.
The Vikings, meanwhile, are 11-2 entering Sunday night's game against the Carolina Panthers. This means if the Vikings win tonight they can pull within a game of the Saints.
The Saints will close the regular season with games at home next Sunday against Tampa Bay (1-12) and at Carolina (5-8) the following Sunday so it's very possible New Orleans will finish at 15-1 and get the top seed. But if the Saints slip up, the Vikings could find themselves in good position.
The Vikings will play at Chicago (5-8) a week from Monday and then close the regular-season on Jan. 3 against the New York Giants (7-6) at the Metrodome. If the Vikings are able to win both those games, and also win at Carolina, they would finish 14-2.
If the Saints finish with the same record, the Vikings would win the tie-breaker. That's because head-to-head is the first tie-breaker -- the teams do not play this season -- and the second is best won-loss percentage in games played within the conference.
The Vikings at 14-2 would be 11-1 in the conference and the Saints at 14-2 would be 10-2.
There is little doubt the Vikings would like to get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs because going to New Orleans for the NFC title game would put them in a tough environment. But if the race continues for the top seed, there might not be an opportunity to get guys like Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson a breather. A second seed would give the Vikings a first-round bye so that would build in some time to rest but this could turn into an interesting situation.
