What is ESPN's bold prediction regarding the Vikings schedule?

The Minnesota Vikings' schedule was released last week, and it was immediately looked over time and again for various reasons. For fans, it could be because they want to figure out what game they are planning to attend, or maybe what wedding to skip because a friend chose to get married on a Sunday in the Fall.

Others have been looking at the schedule to see if they can formulate a bold prediction out of the games. ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote up several takeaways for the Vikings' schedule, and one of them was a bold prediction for what he saw on the schedule.

What he came up with was that the Vikings will make the playoffs with a critical win over a divisional opponent. Seifert makes the case for the Vikings to make the playoffs by knocking off the Bears in Week 18.

He writes, "The Vikings will need to beat the Bears in Week 18 to get into the playoffs. With that tough primetime stretch to start the second half of the season, it's reasonable to think the team will have some catching up to do from a record perspective. Divisional records can often have a big impact on tiebreakers, and whether it's for the division title or a wild-card spot, the Bears will stand between the Vikings and their preferred outcome."

The Bears will be coming into 2026 riding high after being so close to achieving an NFC Championship appearance in Ben Johnson's first year. Sometimes teams experience a hangover from such highs from the previous season, and that is something the Vikings will be looking to capitalize on, especially in Week 18.

This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Vikings predicted to beat the Bears in Week 18 to make the playoffs