So it turns out that Sam Darnold is more than a journeyman quarterback. And the Vikings are more than the 6-11 mediocrities that they were predicted to be by some pundits who shall remain nameless.

So in light of Minnesota’s season-sweeping victory over Green Bay on Sunday, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that the NFL and NBC pushed the Vikings’ Week 18 showdown with the kneecap-biting Detroit Lions into prime time.

Two teams with a combined 28 victories have never met in the history of professional football. And the stakes have never been higher. The winner at Ford Field has to win only two home games to reach the Super Bowl in New Orleans, while the loser likely would have to win three road games.

So the hype button will be turned up to 11 all week for this one. The question everyone is asking is whether this game is THE most-hyped regular-season game in the Vikings’ 64-year history. Here is our ranking:

10. Vikings 38, Dolphins 35 / September 25, 1994

Hyped beforehand as a possible Super Bowl preview between future hall of famers Warren Moon and Dan Marino, this game is mostly remembered for the Vikings rolling out to a 28-0 lead, then having to cling by their fingertips to the victory.

The quarterbacks combined for 757 yards and six touchdown passes. But Marino completed two passes to linebacker Jack Del Rio, leading to the Dolphins’ first loss of the season. Spoiler alert: Neither team made it to the 29th Super Bowl.

9. Vikings 20, Packers 13 / January 3, 2016

In one of the first season-finale games flexed to prime time on NBC, the Teddy Bridgewater-led Vikings went into Lambeau Field to fight for the NFC North title against their heavily-favored neighbors.

Captain Munnerlyn’s TD return of a Rodgers fumble gave the Vikings a 20-0 lead that they barely held onto. But their Super Bowl drive ended abruptly in sub-zero temps the next week when kicker Blair Walsh went wide left on a 27-yard chip shot.

8. Bears 33, Vikings 24 / September 19, 1985

Early on the way to legendary status, unbeaten Chicago got a huge scare from a rebuilding Vikings squad in keeping its record temporarily perfect.

The Vikings took a 17-9 lead against hapless backup QB Steve Fuller. But then injured Jim McMahon talked coach Mike Ditka into subbing him in during the third quarter, and he went on to quickly throw three TD passes.

For Bud Grant, who helped rescue the Vikings franchise from the wreckage of Les Steckel, it was his last big moment.

7. Vikings 28, Browns 23 / December 14, 1980

This must-win game that gave Minnesota the NFC Central crown would be higher were this a list of the Vikings’ greatest moments.

Cleveland looked like Super Bowl material, taking a 14-point lead into the final five-plus minutes, and the Browns still looked like winners when the Vikings took the ball on their own 20-yard-line, down one point, with just 14 seconds left.

As you all know, the next two plays were a hook-and-lateral from Kramer to Joe Senser to Ted Brown, then a Hail Mary to Ahmad Rashad. The Miracle at the Met was the first of many crushing losses for the 1980s Browns.

6. Vikings 20, Rams 13 / December 7, 1969

The NFL’s titans, 11-0 Los Angeles and 10-1 Minnesota, faced off at the Los Angeles Coliseum in The Game of The Year. The Vikings won their 11th in a row thanks to a powerful rushing attack, as Joe Kapp managed to complete only eight passes all afternoon.

Little did anyone suspect George Allen’s Rams had already posted their final victory of the season, as Grant’s Purple People Eaters would beat the Rams again 20 days later in the Western Conference playoff at the Met.

The Vikings went on to rout Cleveland the following week to win their first and only NFL championship.

5. Vikings 37, Packers 34 / December 30, 2012

The Vikings’ Adrian Peterson was the entire focus in this season finale at the Metrodome as he chased Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of 2,105 yards. “All Day” ran 34 times for a paltry 199 yards, coming up nine yards short, though in subsequent years he has been found to come up short in multiple other areas.

Minnesota’s feeling of border superiority was short-lived, as the Packers beat the Vikings six days later in their wild-card playoff on the Frozen Tundra.

4. Vikings 37, Bears 13 / September 17, 1961

Two years after hosting a couple of Chicago Cardinals games in Bloomington, Minnesota finally got its own NFL team, beginning play as 10-point underdogs against a Chicago team that went on to win the NFL title two years later.

George Shaw started at quarterback for the Vikings, but rookie quarterback Sir Francis Tarkenton came off the bench and announced his presence with authority, tallying four TD passes and a TD run.

Unfortunately, Tarkenton’s relationship with coach Norm Van Brocklin would turn toxic, leading the new franchise into the abyss for most of the 1960s.

3. Vikings 27, Chiefs 10 / September 20, 1970

The marquee matchup the first weekend after the NFL-AFL merger was the Super Bowl IV rematch between the conquering Chiefs and the shamed Vikings, eight months after Minnesota learned the limitations of its 65 Toss Power Trap defense.

But Grant’s crew took vengeance, gaining control on a fumble recovery by Jim Marshall, who lateraled to teammate Roy Winston for a 36-yard touchdown.

Minnesota breathed a sigh of relief until learning later in the season the limitations of its post-Kapp quarterback rotation.

2. Vikings 48, Cowboys 26 / November 26, 1998

There are a few folks around here, when they’re asked about Thanksgiving, who still think first of Randy Moss. Back in the long ago days when chomping on the John Madden drumstick was a big deal.

And beating the Dallas Cowboys was a big deal. Randall Cunningham threw four touchdown passes, three to The Freak from Marshall, as the nearly perfect Vikings embarrassed the team that had won three of the previous six Super Bowls.

Few have ever leaped onto the Sports A List more spectacularly.

1. Vikings 38, Packers 26 / November 1, 2009

Got Favre? Still one of the few NFL regular-season games to get Super Bowl level hype as former New York Jets QB Brett Favre faced future Jets QB Rodgers in the national TV spotlight.

No. 4 beat his old team and former understudy for the second time in four weeks, racking up 515 yards and seven TD passes.

The tremendous hype surrounding this game is no doubt hard to understand for younguns after the two protagonists spent the past decade-plus tarnishing their legacies.

You can hear Kevin Cusick on Wednesdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on Twitter — @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneerpress.com