DETROIT -- The majority of the first half of the Vikings' 27-9 victory Sunday over the Detroit Lions could not have played out worse for Minnesota. As the penalties piled up (seven for 48 yards), so did the runs that went nowhere and drives that stalled. A team that came into Ford Field hoping to lock up its second consecutive playoff berth did very little throughout the first 25 minutes (12 plays, 4 yards, zero points) to show it was capable of returning to the postseason.

The two-minute warning came and went, and then came a 180-degree shift in momentum, igniting a 27-0 run for Minnesota en route to its second straight victory.

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The Vikings came into Week 16 needing to beat the Lions and have the Philadelphia Eagles lose to clinch a spot in the postseason. A red-hot Philadelphia team defeating Houston 32-30 means Minnesota's playoff dreams will come down to the final game of the regular season. With a win over the Bears at home in Week 17, the Vikings are in. Minnesota (8-6-1) could also make the playoffs with a loss to Chicago but would need the Eagles to lose to or tie the Redskins.

The NFC playoff picture became clearer Sunday night after Seattle defeated Kansas City to clinch one of the conference’s two remaining spots in the postseason after Dallas locked up the No. 4 seed earlier in the day. Though the Vikings enter Week 17 as 6.5-point favorites over the Bears, the only way for Minnesota to grab the No. 5 seed that currently belongs to Seattle is by beating Chicago and having Seattle lose to Arizona. If the playoffs were to begin today, the Vikings would play the Bears in back-to-back weeks with a trip to Soldier Field slated for the wild card weekend.

"Win and in," coach Mike Zimmer said of next week's fate. "That's how it is. We're OK with that."

Sunday's victory showed that, ready or not, the Vikings remain on the playoff path despite an at-times sluggish performance against Detroit. Despite grabbing back-to-back wins during a stretch that will decide its postseason fate, Minnesota still has a handful of issues it needs to work out if it wants to make a deep push in January.

"I think it's one of those things where you can't get anxiety, but you have to make sure that you get it figured out because in our situation we're in, we can't lose ballgames and a lot of it is on the points we're putting up," wide receiver Adam Thielen said. "If we can put points on the board as an offense, it's going to be tough to beat us. We know that and we make sure we don't have anxiety but we have some awareness that we've got to get going and we've got to score early."

After trailing 9-0, the Vikings scored 14 unanswered points at the end of the first half, first with Kirk Cousins hitting Stefon Diggs' for an 8-yard touchdown on an out route followed by the quarterback launching a Hail Mary pass with no time left that was caught by Kyle Rudolph in the end zone to put the Vikings up 14-9.

Stefon Diggs catches an 8-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins during the second quarter on Sunday in Detroit. Tim Fuller/USA TODAY Sports

That run was set up when the Vikings were able to reverse the things that were stalling drives. After going 0-for-4 on third down, Cousins found Thielen for a 40-yard reception on third-and-17 that set up Diggs' TD two plays later.

"To hit that and not only hit that but now we're down in scoring territory and we get a touchdown to make it 9-7 only a couple of plays after that, that's a huge deal," Cousins said of his throw to Thielen. "It had a huge impact on the game and I'm glad we hit that. It's a fragile game. Plays like that, one or two swing your way or don't swing your way and it can make all the difference."

Players dubbed Rudolph's heroic end zone catch the "Hail Rudy," which the tight end said is a play the Vikings walk through every Saturday. Though the team never goes full speed in the drill or throws the ball, as to avoid injury, Rudolph knows his job is to be in the middle of the scrum of skill players and defenders in the end zone and use his 6-foot-6 frame to leap up and snag the ball.

"It couldn't have worked out any better," Rudolph said. "Kirk threw an unbelievable pass. For me to run to the spot, turn and the ball is 10 feet away and I didn't have to move one step off my spot and I was able to just jump up. I joked earlier that I had a lot of rebounds in high school basketball. At that point, it just turns into another rebound. Maybe I'll see if I can get that added to my career total in high school rebounds."

The tight end's usage in the passing game was a crucial asset for the Vikings in nabbing their third road win of the season. Rudolph's day was as perfect as it could have been, going 9-for-9 on targets and catches and reaching a career-high 122 yards receiving along with two touchdowns, his second of which came off a 4-yard play-action pass in an area where he's dominated throughout his career: the red zone.

"We thought we could get him open on some things, some of the coverages that they were running, and honestly, Kyle hasn't run some of those routes for a long time this year," Zimmer said. "So I think some of that helped. The play-action off the bootleg ... Rudolph on the play-action pass down the goal line. So, we thought we could hit some things on him and it turned out good. It's good to get Kyle involved, too."

After a season-best offensive output against Miami in Week 15, the Vikings spoke all week about how much harder their challenge would become against a much more stout front in Detroit. Throughout the first half, Dalvin Cook struggled to go anywhere, totaling 15 yards on six rushes. By game's end, the second-year running back was as active a part of the passing game as he was on the ground, totaling 19 touches (16 rushes, three catches) for 108 yards.

Despite the blunders on offense and explosive plays allowed by the Vikings' defense early on, Detroit had to settle for field goals on each of its scoring drives. In many respects, the Lions came out flatter than the Vikings and didn't have enough to overcome their own mistakes when Minnesota opened an early window for them to strike quickly and get ahead.