• If they beat or tie Chicago on Sunday.
• If they lose and Philadelphia loses or ties vs. Washington.
If the Vikings win ...
• They will be the No. 6 seed as a wild-card team if Seattle beats Arizona.
• They will be the No. 5 seed as a wild-card team if Arizona beats Seattle.
If the Vikings lose and still make the playoffs ...
• They will be the No. 6 seed as a wild-card team.
In the first round of the playoffs ...
• If the Vikings are the No. 6 seed, they will play the No. 3 seed, either Chicago or the Los Angeles Rams.
• If the Vikings are the No. 5 seed, they will play the No. 4 seed, Dallas.
• At Chicago. The most likely scenario (Vikings win, Seattle wins). The Bears (11-4) beat the Vikings 25-20 in Chicago, and the teams play Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. If the teams do meet in back-to-back weeks, it will be a major contrast — climate-controlled in Minneapolis, cold and windy in Chicago.
• At Dallas. If the Vikings win and Seattle loses, the Vikings would leap over the Seahawks and play the NFC East champion Cowboys. Dallas (9-6) is 7-1 at home this season.
• At Los Angeles. The least likely scenario would occur if the Vikings lose, the Rams lose at home to San Francisco and the Eagles lose or tie. That would give Chicago the No. 2 seed and the Vikings would return to the scene of their 38-31 loss of Sept. 27.
ANDREW KRAMMER
It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.
