In the midst of a fierce playoff race in the NFC, the Vikings aim to bounce back after two consecutive losses, returning from a bye week. Their rivals, the Green Bay Packers, share the playoff pursuit but sit at the opposite ends of the luck spectrum this season.
In 2022, Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings were favored by football gods, yet this season, they’ve been plagued by football demons, experiencing a league-high 18.3% turnover rate on their drives. This echoes back to Jameis Winston’s 2019 performance, where he threw 30 interceptions for the Buccaneers, resulting in a 20.2% turnover rate.
Contrastingly, the Packers, stationed just across the border, boast a mere 9.4% turnover rate, ranking 11th lowest in the NFL.
Delving into the numbers and analytics reveals the Vikings as the unluckiest team after 13 weeks, while the Packers sit at the fortunate end, as per NFL NextGen Stats. Both teams are poised to set three-year highs in their respective categories.
Examining specific aspects, the Vikings find themselves as the sixth unluckiest team in dropped interceptions, the unluckiest in dropped passes, and the fourth unluckiest in field goals and extra points. In contrast, the Packers benefit from opponents dropping passes, missing field goals, and struggling to recover fumbles.
The disparity in fumble recoveries is stark: the Vikings have lost 14 of 23 fumbles, whereas the Packers have only lost two of 15. Opponents complete a staggering 70% of passes against the Minnesota defense, while Green Bay’s defense allows a slightly lower completion rate of 64.4%.
Despite enduring three seasons of ill-fortune, the Vikings find themselves sixth in the NFC, holding the reins to control their destiny in the final five weeks of the season. The battle for playoff contention unfolds as the Vikings seek to overturn their luck and secure a coveted spot in the postseason.