Bills-Vikings game carries major significance for both teams

The Bills and Vikings have identical 0-4 records in the Super Bowl. They enter Monday night’s game with identical 6-1 records.And the stakes are very high for both teams.For Buffalo, which hopes to force the January road to SoFi Stadium through the open-air new venue in Western New York, it’s important to maintain distance between the 6-2 Jaguars and 7-2 Broncos. (The division is looking like the Bills’ to lose, with the Patriots now at 5-4.)For Minnesota, their status as the last unbeaten team in the NFL could dissolve to being the last team out of the NFC playoff picture.The NFC North, which now has a 20-3 record outside the division, has the Vikings at 6-1, the Lions at 6-2, the Bears at 6-2, and the Packers at 6-3. (Combined, they’ve lost as many games as the 0-8 Chargers.) Last week, when the Vikings picked up their first loss of the season, the Lions, Bears, and Packers won. This week, the Lions, Bears, and Packers have won. A loss by the Vikings would conclude a two-week window in which the Vikings are 0-2, and the rest of the division is 6-0.It gets worse. The 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams each won on Sunday. In the end, five playoff berths will go to the four teams of the NFC North and top three teams of the NFC West.Two of those teams will be left out. And, frankly, the Vikings seem destined to be one of them.Even with a 6-2 record, if they lose to the Bills. Because even though the defense is good enough to win a Super Bowl, the offense isn’t good enough to win a playoff game. It could be just bad enough to keep the team from making the playoffs.It was one thing for the Vikings’ defense to not gripe when the end result of each game was victory. If the second game of a four-week gauntlet doesn’t go Minnesota’s way (the Packers and 49ers are up next), things could get even more awkward in the locker room.The problem is that, despite plenty of speculation and chatter, the Vikings don’t seem to be inclined to pull the cord on the emergency option of trading for Daniel Jones or Kirk Cousins. The organization’s chronic “just good enough is just good enough” vibe remains palpable.Which means it all comes down to Carson Wentz against the Bills.Could Minnesota win? When Buffalo last visited Minnesota in 2018, the Vikings entered the game as 17-point favorites. The Bills, fueled by then-rookie quarterback Josh Allen throwing for 196 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 39 yards and two touchdowns (including a hurdle over linebacker Anthony Barr), won the game easily, 27-6. (Last week, Allen said the leap over a linebacker was the moment he realized “I do belong here.”)Four years ago, the Bills were favored by 6.5 points over the Vikings. Minnesota won a crazy game in overtime, 33-30, with Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson making the catch of the century on a fourth-down, game-on-the-line play.Tonight, in many respects, the season is on the line for the Vikings. Especially if they won’t be trying to upgrade the most important position on the team, which in recent weeks has been the weakest on the roster.