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Vikings securing first-round bye means everything — no team has reached the Super Bowl without one since 2012Mike Zimmer isn't dousing the enthusiasm for the Vikings' NFC North title, but is emphasizing there's more to gain.As his players formed a circle around him on Sunday afternoon, clad in NFC North championship gear after a 34-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals cemented the Vikings’ division title, coach Mike Zimmer started to nudge their focus toward what’s next.
“Congratulations on winning the NFC North,” Zimmer said in the video clip of his postgame speech posted on the team’s website. “That stuff’s hard to do, now. OK? It’s hard to do. But that’s only the first goal as we start getting going. Now we won the division. Now we know we’re in the playoffs. Now, we start playing for seeding.”
The Vikings, at 11-3, currently hold the NFC’s second-best record, and are a game behind the Philadelphia Eagles. They can only claim the top spot in the conference if they win their final two games while Philadelphia loses its last two, but a win on Saturday night in Green Bay would put the Vikings on the doorstep of a first-round bye for the first time since 2009.
Minnesota can assure itself of a weekend off in the playoffs with another victory and a Carolina Panthers loss. The Vikings would also win three-way tiebreakers with the Los Angeles Rams and either of the teams competing for the NFC South title (the Panthers and New Orleans Saints).
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-secur...465035263/
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