Sunday Night Football: Lions clinch NFC North, No. 1 seed with 31-9 win over Vikings

The NFC will officially run through Detroit in the 2024 postseason.

The Lions were up 10-6 at halftime but used a dominant second half to beat the Vikings 31-9, clinching the NFC North and the conference’s No. 1 seed.

Jahmyr Gibbs scored a career-high four touchdowns while accumulating 170 yards from scrimmage to pace Detroit’s offense and lead the club to victory.

Gibbs opened the scoring with a 25-yard run in the first quarter. He then caught a 10-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to make the score 17-9. And Gibbs put the game away with TD runs of 13 and 4 yards in the fourth quarter.

He ends the season with 20 total touchdowns to lead the NFL in the category.

Quarterback Jared Goff started slow but finished the night 27-of-33 for 231 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Amon-Ra St. Brown led with 77 yards on six catches.

But Detroit’s defense, led by coordinator Aaron Glenn, was stellar all night. The Lions picked up 10 quarterback hits on Sam Darnold — though it seemed like more — with two sacks. The constant pressure kept Darnold to 18-of-41 passing for 166 yards.

Detroit’s red-zone defense was also exemplary, as the Vikings had possessions end at the 3- and 2-yard line on downs.

Justin Jefferson was held to just three catches on nine targets for 54 yards.

With the win, the Lions finish the season 15-2 to earn the NFC’s only bye. It’s the first time in franchise history that Detroit is the conference’s No. 1 seed. The Lions will face the NFC’s lowest-remaining seed in the divisional round — which could well be the Vikings.

At 14-3, the Vikings will be the NFC’s No. 5 seed and will head to Los Angeles to face the No. 4 Rams next Monday night.

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