DETROIT — Jahmyr Gibbs scored three of his franchise-record-tying four touchdowns in the second half, and the Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings 31-9 on Sunday night to win their second straight NFC North title and earn home-field advantage until the Super Bowl.
“Everybody’s got to come through here, baby!” Detroit defensive end Za’Darius Smith said to the roaring crowd after the game.
The Lions (15-2) and Vikings (14-3) could meet again in two weeks.
Detroit will have a much-needed bye for its banged-up team during the first week of the playoffs while Minnesota plays at the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams next Monday night. The Vikings opened as -2.5 favorites, per ESPN BET.
In the NFL’s final game before the playoffs, two teams played in the regular season with a combined 28 victories for the first time. A No. 1 seed was determined in a regular-season finale for the third time in three-plus decades.
Dallas wrapped up the 1993 regular season against the New York Giants with a 16-13 overtime win to give the Cowboys top seeding they used to their advantage as they advanced to and won the Super Bowl. The Giants, meanwhile, beat Minnesota in the wild-card round and were routed at San Francisco the following week.
Detroit desperately hopes history repeats itself. The Lions are seeking their first Super Bowl appearance and hoping to end an NFL championship drought that dates to 1957. They are a No. 1 seed for the first time in franchise history.
“It’s not the cherry on top,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “Not yet.”
Game No. 272 of the regular season was expected to be a shootout with Pro Bowl quarterbacks leading high-scoring offenses, but Goff and Sam Darnold were not at their best.
Gibbs picked up the slack for his team.
He had 23 carries for 139 yards with a career-high three rushing touchdowns and caught five passes for 31 yards and another score. He became the first Lions player to lead the NFL in scrimmage touchdowns (20) since Barry Sanders in 1991 (17).
“He’s as explosive as any player in the league,” Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell said.
Goff threw two interceptions after tossing only one in the previous seven games and Minnesota made field goals after the turnovers in the second and third quarters.
After Vikings rookie Will Reichard connected on his third kick to cut the deficit to 10-9 early in the third, Goff directed a 13-play, 70-yard drive that took 7:25 and was capped by a slick pass to Gibbs for a 10-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2.
Goff was 8-of-8 on that possession and finished 27-of-33 for 231 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Darnold completed fewer than half of his passes in the first half, missing opportunities to pick up first downs and score touchdowns. The Vikings were 0-of-3 in the red zone through two quarters, and the Lions led 10-6 at halftime.
The Vikings went for it on fourth down from the Lions’ 3 in the second quarter and Darnold, under pressure, overthrew an open Justin Jefferson in the end zone.
Darnold threw another incomplete pass on fourth down from the Detroit 2 early in the third.
“Kicking field goals isn’t going to get it done against that team,” Darnold said. “I have to hit those throws.”
Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell opted to attempt a 51-yard field goal late in the third, trailing by eight, and Reichard missed wide right.
Darnold was 18-of-41, a season-low 44% completion rate, and connected with Jefferson just three times on nine targets for 54 yards. The Lions blitzed him on 56% of his dropbacks, the highest blitz percentage in any game of his career.
Overall, Darnold was off target on 34% of his throws, the second highest such percentage in a game in his career. His only game with a worse percentage was the “Seeing Ghosts” game when his Jets played the Patriots in Week 7 of 2019 (48%).
“We didn’t do a lot of the things we did well this season,” O’Connell said. “Sam has hit a lot of those plays all year and I have every bit of confidence that he will hit it the next time.”
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
