The Vikings will open the playoffs on Jan. 14 at U.S. Bank Stadium. They'll have to wait one more day to learn their opponent.
It will be either the New Orleans Saints or Carolina Panthers coming to Minnesota for the NFC divisional playoffs, after the sixth-seeded Atlanta Falcons knocked off the No. 3 Los Angeles Rams 26-13 on Saturday night. The Vikings, as the No. 2 seed in the NFC, will play the highest-seeded winner from the wild-card round; the Falcons, who entered the playoffs as the NFC's lowest seed, will travel to Philadelpha to face the top-seeded Eagles on Saturday night.
The Vikings had faced all three of their potential divisional round opponents during the regular season, beating the Saints 29-19 in Week 1 and topping the Rams 24-7 in Week 11 before losing 31-24 to the Panthers on Dec. 10.
Carolina was the last team to beat the Vikings, on a day where the Vikings matched their season high with three turnovers and allowed Jonathan Stewart to become the only running back to gain 100 yards in a game against them this season. Given the number of uncharacteristic errors the Vikings made in that game, it wasn't hard to see why players might be pining for a rematch.
The Vikings know, though, they can't simply lean on the fact they've seen the Panthers recently. It's been so long since they played the Saints — who unleashed rookie Alvin Kamara and solidified their defense after the Week 1 loss — that their season-opening win might not be worth much as a template.
"You've kind of seen what they're basically going to run," defensive end Brian Robison said. "They're going to make adjustments, and you have to make adjustments, as well. It's hard to beat a team twice in one season, but at the end of the day, you have to take that team on, on that current week, and just kind of use past history with them as a guideline, but not necessarily what they're going to do on that Sunday."
The Vikings practiced on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, letting players depart for some time off while the coaching staff continued to scout the team's three potential opponents for next Sunday. And as they prepare to face a team that had to play this weekend, the Vikings will do so with the benefit of as much rest as they've had since their bye week in early November.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph, who'd been playing through a right ankle sprain, said he'd told coach Mike Zimmer he'd do whatever he needed to do to get through the Vikings' final three regular season games, knowing a bye would await the Vikings if they won those games. Had the Vikings had to play this weekend, Rudolph said, "I can't tell you what Plan B would have been."
The Vikings came through the end of the regular season in relatively good health, and have a good chance to get center Pat Elflein back from the shoulder injury that kept him out in Week 17. Even for players who weren't on the team's last injury report, the bye week carried plenty of value.
"[It's] being able to have extra time to get treatment, to get massages and take advantage of the resources you have at your house: rolling out, stretching, things like that," wide receiver Adam Thielen said. "When you're in the grind of the game week, it's hard to find time to do those things. I think that's something that's going to be huge, if guys can take advantage of these four days to really attack their body and try to get as close to 100 percent as possible."