As we noted Monday night on Twitter, the Washington Redskins' victory over the New York Giants wasn't a great thing if you're hanging on to the Minnesota Vikings' fleeting playoff hopes.
As ESPN.com's playoff standings indicate, the result buried the Vikings deeper in the NFC playoff race. They are one of four teams with 6-6 records and lose in the tiebreaker to all four, technically making them the 10th seed in the competition for six playoff spots.
Below, I pulled the explanations for why the Vikings lose in tiebreakers to the Redskins, Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers directly from our playoff standings. Remember, even if they somehow came out on top in those tiebreakers, the Vikings would still be one game removed from the playoff field. It doesn't mean they are eliminated from realistic contention, but it notes that their particular six losses have a bigger impact on their standing than those of other teams.
Redskins: Win tiebreak over Vikings and Buccaneers based on head-to-head sweep. Division tiebreak was initially used to eliminate Cowboys. (Redskins win tiebreak over Cowboys based on head-to-head win percentage.).
Cowboys: Win tiebreak over Vikings and Buccaneers based on best win percentage in conference games.
Buccaneers: Win tiebreak over Vikings based on head-to-head win percentage.
If you want to see how future results could change these standings, check out ESPN.com's Playoff Machine.