The Minnesota Vikings had just lost 31-9 to the Detroit Lions in Week 18. NBC cameras watched as Kevin O’Connell and Lions head coach Dan Campbell walked toward each other for the postgame handshake.
As the coaches embraced, the microphones caught Campbell’s farewell message to O’Connell.
“Good job, great to see you,” Campbell said. “I’ll see you in two weeks.”
The Lions had secured the NFC North and a first-round bye with the victory. Although the Vikings were going to be a wild-card team, there was a possibility the two teams would meet again in the playoffs. And it could happen as soon as two weeks from that moment if the Vikings were the NFC’s lowest-remaining seed following Wild Card Weekend.
We now know the teams won’t face each other in the playoffs. Because the Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Vikings would have been traveling to play the Philadelphia Eagles if they had beaten the Los Angeles Rams.
But the Vikings’ 27-9 loss to the Rams on Monday night eliminated them from the playoffs.
Campbell’s message will now linger with the Vikings and O’Connell all off-season. It will further fuel the Vikings-Lions rivalry, which, for the first time, is heavily in the Lions’ favor. And it will be used as a meme on social media until the two teams meet again in 2025.