Vikings have the easiest rest-of-season schedule among NFC North teams

The Minnesota Vikings will host the Detroit Lions in a key NFC North battle on Sunday afternoon, and if they can come out with a win, they may have a clear path to the division title.

Pro Football Network released its strength of schedule for the remainder of the season earlier this week and the Vikings by far had the easiest schedule compared to their NFC North counterparts.

PFN ranks the Vikings 13th, thanks in large part to the schedule Minnesota has after Sunday's showdown with the Lions. The Vikings travel to the 1-4 Los Angeles Rams next Thursday night before a mini-bye precedes a home game against the 3-3 Indianapolis Colts.

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With back-to-back road games against the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars and the 1-4 Tennessee Titans, the Rams game will begin a stretch where the Vikings will face four teams with a combined record of 6-16 before a Nov. 24 game against the Chicago Bears.

While the Bears are 4-2, that game could look less daunting by the time the Vikings arrive at Soldier Field as the Bears are facing the toughest schedule in the NFL. After that, the Vikings host the 2-4 Arizona Cardinals before hosting Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons and another game against the Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The final three weeks are tough as the Vikings travel to face the Seattle Seahawks, host the Green Bay Packers and travel to Ford Field to take on the Lions in their regular season finale.

If the Vikings take care of business in the middle stretch, they should create enough of a cushion to win the division – especially with Detroit and Green Bay ranking second and third in PFN's rankings.

It puts an even bigger emphasis on Sunday's game, as the Vikings could take a two-game lead with the tiebreaker in hand with a win over the Lions.