The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings are playing for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, a playoff bye and an NFC North division title in Week 18. It only makes sense that the NFL would move the game into the featured time slot.
As expected following the Vikings win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the NFL announced the critical Week 18 game in Ford Field will be the Sunday Night Football feature game and the final game of the 2024 regular season. All games in Week 18 are played on Saturday or Sunday, with no Monday night or Thursday night games. Only one will be played in the primetime broadcast slot at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday night.
Minnesota is 14-2, while the Lions are 13-2 entering the Monday night game in San Francisco. The Lions’ outcome in Week 17 doesn’t impact the winner-take-all status of the finale against the Vikings, as Detroit won the first meeting in Minnesota back in Week 7. That gives Detroit the head-to-head tiebreaker if both teams finish 14-3.