Minnesota Vikings 9-31 Detroit Lions: Lions take No 1 seed in NFC playoffs with convincing win in Week 18

Detroit Lions pulled away for a 31-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night to secure the No 1 seed in the NFC playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

The Lions clinched the NFC North title for the second straight year after ending the Vikings’ nine-game winning streak and will have a bye next week before home advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 139 yards and three straight touchdowns in the second half for four overall, while Jared Goff completed 27 of 33 passes for 231 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for Detroit (15-2).

Sam Darnold completed 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards for Minnesota (14-3) who failed to score a touchdown and will enter the postseason as a wild-card team and the No 5 seed in the NFC.

The Vikings travel to California to face the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Rams on January 13.

Stats leaders

Minnesota Vikings:

• Passing: Sam Darnold, 18/41, 166 yards
• Rushing: Cam Akers, 6 carries, 58 yards
• Receiving: Justin Jefferson, 3 catches, 54 yards

Detroit Lions:

• Passing: Jared Goff, 27/33, 231 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
• Rushing: Jahmyr Gibbs, 23 carries, 139 yards, 3 TDs
• Receiving: Amon-Ra St. Brown, 6 catches, 77 yards

Gibbs stars as Lions win NFC North

Detroit were clinging to a 10-9 lead when Gibbs caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Goff with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.

Gibbs then added a 13-yard rushing touchdown to increase Detroit’s lead to 24-9 with 13:06 remaining in the fourth but the running back was not finished.

He powered across the goal line for a four-yard touchdown to make it 31-9 with 5:14 to go to join Barry Sanders as the only running backs in team history to score four touchdowns in a game.

Gibbs recorded the franchise record for most rushing and receiving touchdowns in a single season (20), surpassing the previous mark of 17 set by Sanders in 1991 and matched by Jamaal Williams in 2022.

Detroit opened the scoring with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter when Gibbs cut to his left and sprinted for a 25-yard touchdown.

The Vikings pulled within 7-6 after back-to-back field goals by Will Reichard but Jake Bates hit a 48-yard field goal to give Detroit a 10-6 advantage at the break.

Reichard then made his third field goal of the game, a 51-yarder, to cut the Vikings’ deficit to 10-9 with just under 10 minutes left in the third quarter.