Despite their explosive and record-setting offensive firepower, it was the Detroit Lions defense that controlled the game and helped the Lions (15-2) get a 31-9 win over the division rival Minnesota Vikings (14-3). In the process, the Lions secured their first ever No. 1 overall seed in the conference, and the team’s first-ever 15-win season.
The game was also one of the most anticipated in the NFL all season, as it pitted 14-win teams against each other in the final week of the season for the first time in league history, with the winner taking the NFC’s top seed and the loser dropping to the No. 5 seed and having to play its first playoff game on the road. With the win, the Lions will play each of their playoff games at Ford Field this postseason and will automatically advance to the second round of the playoffs.
In a game where the team needed to be firing on all cylinders, the return of defensive playcaller Alex Anzalone sparked a fire in this “bend-but-don’t-break” Detroit defense. The game was truly a tale of two halves.
The Lions repeatedly found themselves with their heels on their own endzone in the first half, giving up multiple plays over 30 yards and providing the Vikings with two scoring opportunities inside the Lions’ 10 yard line. Time after time, Detroit’s defense held firm, forcing two turnovers on downs while defending their redzone, and holding Minnesota to just two first-half field goals in the first 30 minutes of the game.
“You know, it takes a special group of guys, and I think you kind of had to go through what we’ve been through over the last four years to understand that,” said Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell. (Our guys) really delivered for us. Today our playmakers made plays when we needed it. … We knew we were going to need to play a certain type of game, and they didn’t totally play that way because of circumstance, but our defense was ready. Our defense was fully ready to take the field.”
Offensively, the Lions high-powered attack was relatively subdued in the first half by the Vikings’ stifling defense. The Lions had just 10 points at halftime – their third-lowest first-half scoring total all year. Their lone touchdown came on a 25-yard run by second year running back Jahmyr Gibbs with 1:49 left in the first quarter.
But the Lions offense returned to its regular form in the second half, with Gibbs scoring three second-half touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving) and racking up 130 combined yards rushing and receiving. His four touchdowns on the game made him just the fifth Lions player ever to record four touchdowns in a game, and his 20 total touchdowns on the season not only led the league this year, but also set a new franchise record for most touchdowns by a player in a season.
“It feels great, but we’ve got bigger goals in mind,” Gibbs said. “I knew we were going to do everything to win, and I was ready, no matter whether I got the ball or didn’t get the ball. It means a lot (to lead the league in touchdowns and to get the Lions single-season franchise record). I didn’t even know I was that close to the record until like two days ago, but I had to get that.”
He was able to get the record on his second touchdown of the game – a 10-yard reception from quarterback Jared Goff on a fourth-and-two play where he jetted out of the backfield and found himself in man coverage against a Vikings linebacker.
“He was big, and I felt like he gained steam as the game went on. I thought he got better, and better, and better. You could really feel it after one of, you know, that last stop we got in the red zone on the fourth-down stop, and, you know, that next carry he has—where he just breaks it down the sideline—you know, you could feel it,” Campbell said.
“So, he was big for us, and we felt like he was going to need to be big for us to win that game. He was kind of the, all those guys needed to play well for us, but we felt like Gibbs could somewhat be the x-factor here, and he did, man. He showed up in a big way in the run game and the pass game.”
The Lions defense once again stood tall, even after the offense gave them some cushion, pitching a near shutout in the second half and only allowing the Vikings to score a single field goal in the final 30 minutes.
In total, the Lions defense held the Vikings scoreless in goal-to-go situations (0-for-3) and 0-for-4 on redzone attempts. The Lions only allowed 262 total yards by the Vikings offense that averaged more than 350 yards per game coming into the contest. The defense also held Sam Darnold to just 166 passing yards and only allowed him to complete 18-of-41 passes, for his lowest yardage total and his worst completion percentage (43.9%) in a single game this season. Minnesota’s star wide receiver Justin Jefferson was held scoreless with just three catches for 54 yards.
For his defensive pressure of Jefferson, Campbell awarded cornerback Amik Robertson the defensive player of the game. Robertson said defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn cooked up a scheme that worked perfectly against the All-Pro receiver, sometimes putting Robertson in one-on-one coverage against him and other times providing some assistance over the top from a rotating safety.
Robertson and Jefferson have been competing against one another since high school, and Robertson said it felt good to know that a spectators knew of their history and saw how he was able to contain such a great wide receiver.
“I knew a lot of people were going to be watching – you know, a lot of old coaches, you know? I know a lot of people who’s gonna be watching this matchup man, but I kind of didn’t really get too involved with that. I knew Monday night that I was getting that assignment, so I came out, you know, to help my team win. This was my first time ever getting player of the game, so I was glad that I was able to do that,” Robertson said.
With the win, the Lions became back-to-back NFC Noth Champions, winning the division in consecutive years for the first time in the Super Bowl era. In the locker room after the game, several of the players credit Campbell and the coaching staff for instilling a winning attitude and trusting his players to “be great men” and “work hard.” Anzalone and Robertson both said that they would “run through a brick wall” for Campbell.
“I don’t know if I can put it into words, you know? There’s so many things on my mind that I’m not ready to share,” Campbell said of how he felt winning this game and the division title again. “Our players will show up and make plays, cause the core of this group has been doing it for four years now, and we’ve added to that, and those guys have just continued to add to it, and help us along the way, and enhance us, and they did it again now. Our guys did it again.”
Detroit will now wait on the winner of the NFC Wild Card round to determine who they host at Ford Field in two weeks, and there’s a possibility that they could once again play host to Minnesota – a third matchup this season between the two teams. But according to Robertson, the team won’t take for granted the extra week off and the first-round bye that their exceptional play has earned them.
“It’s 24 hours then we back to work,” he said.
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