Jahmyr Gibbs, clutch Detroit Lions defense crush Vikings, 31-9, and clinch NFC 1 seed
The Detroit Lions are staying home for the NFC playoffs and if they play two more games like they did Sunday, they’ll be on their way to Super Bowl 59.
Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 139 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Lions dominated the Minnesota Vikings in a winner-take-all game at Ford Field, 31-9.
The Lions improved to a franchise-best 15-2 with the win and swept the season series from the Vikings (14-3) to claim their second straight NFC North title, the No. 1 seed for the first time in the NFC playoffs and a first-round bye for the second time (1991).
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The Lions are the ninth team in NFL history to win 15 or more games in the regular season. However, of the seven previous teams to reach the 15-win mark, only the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and 1985 Chicago Bears reached the Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs also went 15-2 this season.
Gibbs, playing without sidekick David Montgomery in the Lions’ backfield for the third straight week, delivered the best game of his career in the final game of the regular season. He scored on runs of 25, 13 and 4 yards and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff on fourth down late in the third quarter.
The Lions led 10-6 at halftime thanks for a ferocious effort from their defense. They held the Vikings to two field goals on three red-zone possessions in the first half and got a second turnover on downs inside their own 3-yard line on the first possession of the third quarter.
Goff threw an interception on a deep ball on the next play from scrimmage that set up a Minnesota field goal, but Gibbs followed with TDs on three straight drives to put the game away.
Gibbs finished with 170 yards from scrimmage and set a franchise single-season record with 20 touchdowns, and Goff was 27 of 33 passing for 231 yards with two interceptions.
Sam Darnold was 18 of 41 for 166 yards for the Vikings, who will play the Los Angeles Rams on the road in the playoffs as the winningest wild-card team in NFL history.
Three more thoughts from Sunday's game:
Looking ahead to Lions playoff game in NFC divisional round
The No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs has advanced to the Super Bowl each of the past two seasons, and Sunday’s win puts the Lions in the driver’s seat to represent the conference in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
The Lions will have a much-needed bye this week, then host the lowest-seeded remaining team in the divisional round Jan. 18-19 against the lowest remaining seed from wild-card weekend.. Projecting ahead, that could be a third game against the Vikings.
It’s never easy to beat a team three times in a season, but the Lions’ blueprint Sunday will be one head coach Dan Campbell will want to recycle if the two teams meet again, at least defensively. Beyond the divisional round, the Lions are in line to host the 2-seed Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) at Ford Field in any potential NFC championship game.
But as big as homefield is, it might be more important that the Lions have a bye. Sunday’s game was a physical one, and the Lions, whose regular-season bye came in Week 5, lost two more key defensive players – Terrion Arnold (foot) and Pat O’Connor (calf) – to injury.
Their status moving forward is not immediately known. Arnold had to be helped off the field and eventually carted to the locker room, and his loss leaves means the Lions will be without both starting cornerbacks (Carlton Davis remains out with a broken jaw) plus starting front-seven players Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Marcus Davenport and Derrick Barnes.
Montgomery is on track to return from his torn MCL, though, with NBC reporting during its broadcast Sunday he went through his first full workout Saturday since his injury in Week 15 against Buffalo.
Bottom line: Winning two games at home is a whole lot easier than winning three on the road to get to the Super Bowl, and the Lions will be well-rested and have the talent to cash in on the league's best homefield advantage.
Aaron Glenn in demand
The NFL hiring cycle begins Monday and assistants on teams with a first-round bye can start interviewing for jobs later this week. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, of course, will be a hot commodity, and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn should be, too.
In fact, if Glenn doesn’t get a head-coaching job after the way his defense performed Sunday, it will be a travesty.
The Lions made Darnold look like the seeing-ghosts quarterback of old with their pressure packages and held Minnesota to two field goals on four red-zone possessions. Amik Robertson led an impressive effort by the secondary against Justin Jefferson, and Alex Anzalone had a noticeable impact in his return from a fractured forearm.
Glenn had the Lions defense looking like one of the best in the NFL early in the year, before injuries took their toll on the unit. They have 12 defenders on injured reserve, tied for the most in the NFL. The group struggled at times in the second half of the season and ranked 31st against the pass entering Sunday, but continued to come up with timely plays as the Lions piled up wins.
On Sunday, the Lions got a complete defensive effort, and it’s a credit to Glenn for having his unit hitting on all cylinders for the biggest game of the season.
Jahmyr Gibbs, sonic boom
Remember when general manager Brad Holmes and the Lions were scoffed at for drafting Gibbs in the first round?
Well, the second-year running back has turned into one of the most explosive weapons in football and the NFL has cycled back to being a run-dominant league.
Good teams still throw the ball, of course. It’s the best way to make chunk plays and that will never not be the case.
But the top six rushing teams in the NFL this season (and eight of the top 10) made the playoffs, and the two best teams in the NFC – the Lions and Eagles – have two of the three best backs in the NFL (with the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry ranking somewhere in that mix).
Gibbs is a lightning bolt with the ball. He takes handoffs at full speed and is a mismatch for most defensive players. The Lions hit two big pass plays Sunday when they got him in one-on-one coverage against Vikings linebackers, including his touchdown on fourth-and-2 from the 10 against Andrew Van Ginkel.
The Lions landed a star in Gibbs when they traded down from No. 6 to No. 12 in the 2023 draft, and he’s as big a reason as any why they’re the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs today.
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.