After defeating the Minnesota Vikings 30–20, the Detroit Lions tie a franchise record.
After defeating the Minnesota Vikings 30-20 in the regular season finale, the Detroit Lions finished the 2023–24 regular season 12–5, tying the franchise record for most wins in a season.
The Lions will play at least one game at Ford Field for the first time as they are most likely guaranteed the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs. Because they took care of business at home, Detroit could move up to the 2-seed in the event that the Philadelphia Eagles and Cowboys suffer upset losses in the late-afternoon games.
Next Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, the Lions will host a playoff game at Ford Field in hopes of winning their first postseason game since 1991 after finishing the season sweep over the Vikings. Before Wild-Card Weekend, a number of Lions players, including tight end Sam LaPorta, who left the game due to a knee injury, will be racing to recover.
TRENDING: TE is too expensive for the Detroit Lions Sam LaPorta will not play during the postseason.
At Ford Field, the match began at 1:00 p.m. Both Fox and Fubo provided live streaming for it. See the summary of the game below:
Recap and highlights of the Lions vs. Vikings game at 2:08 in the fourth quarter Gardner-Johnson, C.J., intercepts Nick Mullens
I am C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and welcome back.
With a torn pectoral, the Detroit Lions safety has been out since Week 2. This week, he returned to the field and recorded an interception just before the two-minute warning to end the Lions’ victory. Cam Sutton’s interception forced Detroit to quickly go three and out, and with less than three minutes remaining, they gave the ball back to the Vikings at their 10-yard line. Mullens threw a pass over the middle, straight to Gardner-Johnson, who stumbled and fell while trying to secure the catch.
Cam Sutton intercepts Nick Mullens at 3:11 in the fourth quarter.
Presumably, the Lions’ defense forced a significant turnover to end the Vikings’ hopes of a comeback. The defense blitzed up the middle on third-and-10 from the Lions’ 26-yard line in an attempt to pressure Mullens. Ifeatu Melifonwu and Alex Anzalone arrived at the scene to hit Mullens as he attempted to throw over the middle. The ball skittered out of his hands and landed squarely in Cam Sutton’s chest, where he hauled it in and put it back to the 36-yard line.
At 8:14 in the fourth quarter, Badgley makes a field goal, putting the Lions ahead 30–20.
The Lions’ next drive, a 10-play, five-minute drive that culminated in a 39-yard field goal by Michael Badgley, caused the fireworks to subside. During the drive, the Lions mostly kept the ball on the ground, but they did manage two first downs thanks to completions to Josh Reynolds and James Mitchell, which put them in field goal range. In order to force a kick, Danielle Hunter sacked quarterback Jared Goff on third down, giving the offense a third-and-6 from the Minnesota 12-yard line. On the kickoff return, wide receiver and returner Kalif Raymond hurt his knee and hobbled off the field with trainers. The squad immediately ruled Raymond out.
Fourth quarter, 13:22: Lions lead 27–20 as the Vikings score right away on a Jordan Addison touchdown.
After a rather quiet first three quarters at Ford Field, a shootout has broken out. After Amon-Ra St. Brown’s long touchdown, it took the Vikings three plays to answer with another deep throw, this time to Jordan Addison for 42 yards. On the second play of the drive, the Vikings gained 29 yards thanks to a 29-yard pass to Justin Jefferson down the seam. Jordan Addison then converted a play-action pass to beat Cam Sutton one-on-one for a wide-open touchdown, bringing the score back to one.
Fourth quarter, 14:45: Amon-Ra After a 70-yard touchdown pass from St. Brown, the Lions lead 27–13.
After observing Justin Jefferson’s exploits during the previous drive, Brown outperformed him on the opening play of the fourth quarter, scoring a touchdown pass from 70 yards out on the drive’s second play. St. Brown caught the pass several yards down the field after getting loose down the left sideline in a gap in the zone. Following the catch, St. Brown made a quick cut to the right sideline across the field. He did so while dancing with safety Camryn Bynum. After cutting inside Bynum, he powered past two defenders to cross the goal line. St. Brown now has ten touchdowns on the year, joining Lions like David Montgomery, Sam LaPorta, and Jahmyr Gibbs who have all scored ten or more.
Third quarter, 0:20: Lions lead 20–13 after Justin Jefferson scores a long touchdown on fourth down.
The Vikings were within one score once more against the Lions thanks to more ridiculous catches and a long touchdown from Justin Jefferson, who has a decorated résumé. The Vikings signaled a run on a fourth-and-1 play from the Detroit 38-yard line with a jumbo package, but Nick Mullens instead chose to play a play-action fake. Nick Mullens lofted a perfect pass to Jefferson, who beat Kindle Vildor one-on-one for his second touchdown of the season against Detroit. Jefferson, pushed out of bounds, made an impressive nine-yard reception just before the touchdown to set up the aggressive fourth down play.
3:14, third quarter: Lions lead 20–6 after David Montgomery punches in a touchdown.
With a nine-play, 71-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run by Montgomery—who tore through the defense for his 13th rushing touchdown of the season—the Lions offense was back on track. The home crowd erupted in cheers for the Lions when Dan Skipper, who had registered as an eligible receiver, caught a pass for a 4-yard gain. Amon-Ra St. Brown completed a 14-yard pass to start it, and Donovan Peoples-Jones completed a 20-yard pass on the fourth down to move the ball into Minnesota territory and earn the next first down. A few plays later, Josh Reynolds’ attempted pass to the Lions in the end zone resulted in pass interference against the Vikings, which allowed the ball to cross the goal line and set up the Montgomery score. The officials assisted the Lions in this play.
Third-quarter, 11:25: Lions defense stops the fourth straight play.
To begin the second half, the Lions defense made a huge stop at the edge of the field. During the first six plays of the drive, the Vikings advanced the ball to the Detroit 31-yard line; however, they were unable to gain three yards on two of those plays to extend the drive. While facing a third-and-three, Nick Mullens attempted to slant the ball past the sticks to Brandon Powell, but Powell was unable to catch the pass because it was too low. The Vikings targeted Powell once more on fourth down, but Aidan Hutchinson and Cam Sutton tackled the quick receiver and kick returner a half-yard shy of the first down marker, forcing a turnover on downs.
Halftime: Lions lead 13–6 after a last-second field goal by the Vikings.
With 1:12 left in the half, the Vikings began the drive at their own 18, but they made significant gains through the air that set up Greg Joseph’s 43-yard field goal with seconds left to make it a one-score game. The Vikings entered Detroit territory with back-to-back 47-yard completions to Justin Jefferson to start the drive. Ty Chandler’s 13-yard completion to him eased Joseph’s task on the field goal.
On a two-minute drive, the Lions appeared ready to move down the field, but Jahmyr Gibbs was stuffed on third-and-1, forcing a punt. After a tackle on a five-yard gain, Sam LaPorta stayed on the field, holding his leg, and had to leave the game due to a left knee injury. LaPorta hobbled off the field on his own and rode the trainer-filled medical cart to the locker room.
The Lions led 13-0 at the beginning of the game, but they had to punt on each of their next two drives to maintain a one-touchdown advantage at halftime. The Vikings scored a field goal after an impressive eight-minute drive, and they added another field goal to close out the half with a one-minute drive full of chunk plays. LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs, two rookies from Detroit, scored the touchdowns that cemented their places in NFL annals. With 126 yards and one touchdown on 10 of 15 passes, Jared Goff had a strong first half. Despite allowing 14 completions for 187 yards on 20 attempts, the defense has struggled against Mullens and the Vikings passing attack, but it has stood strong in its own end to force field goals.
Second quarter, 9:20: Vikings add field goal, trim Lions lead to 13-3.
After a 14-play, 59-yard drive by the Vikings to get to the Lions’ 8-yard line, Aidan Hutchinson made a sack on first-and-goal to force Minnesota back to the 20 and eventually force Greg Joseph to kick a 39-yard field goal. On second-and-30, Johnny Mundt caught a 32-yard pass from Nick Mullens to gain a long first down. Nick Mullens then carried on his air attack, mainly going after Justin Jefferson. After a 22-yard completion to Jefferson, the Vikings moved the ball into the Lions’ 10-yard line; however, Hutchinson’s sack prevented a possible touchdown.
2:12, first quarter: Lions lead 13-0 after a touchdown from Jahmyr Gibbs.
After a pitch around the right end, Jahmyr Gibbs ran for a 3-yard touchdown to give the Lions a larger lead on the next offensive drive. James Mitchell and LaPorta, two tight ends who established the edge, let Gibbs go unnoticed and sprint to the pylon for the touchdown.
Kalif Raymond was pushed out at the 3-yard line after receiving a deep pass from the quarterback from 41 yards down the left sideline, which set up the touchdown. To set themselves up for the deep shot, the Lions had to convert a fourth-and-1 for the drive’s first first down. Instead of winning with seven points, the Lions only managed six after Michael Badgley missed the extra point.
8:06, first quarter: Sam LaPorta TD gives the Lions a 7-0 lead.
On the game’s second drive, Sam LaPorta caught a one-yard touchdown pass from the Lions to score his 10th touchdown of the rookie campaign. On the play-action, LaPorta pretended to block and went down on his knees, but he got back up and released to the corner, where he was wide open to catch the touchdown. With that catch, LaPorta surpassed Keith Jackson to become the first rookie tight end in NFL history with 81 catches this season.
Kalif Raymond made a fantastic punt return, taking the ball from the 5 to close to midfield, forcing the Lions to force a quick punt and taking the lead at their 48-yard line. A 34-yard completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown got the Lions started in the red zone, and on the first play of the drive, Dan Skipper checked in as an eligible receiver, drawing loud cheers from the enraged Lions fans who remembered the game’s conclusion last week. The next play, St. Brown gained 13 yards on a screen to get to the Minnesota 5-yard line. David Montgomery then scored a short run up the middle. When Skipper reported eligible on two plays during the drive, the crowd erupted in cheers. They also joined in on the first penalty call that went against Minnesota.
Notes before the game
In order to safeguard starters from any potential injuries during the final week, the Lions are not taking any breaks despite having secured a postseason spot. The strategy, according to head coach Dan Campbell, is to use every player available for the championship game.
Last Saturday night, during what would have been the game-winning 2-point conversion against the Cowboys, the Lions were on the wrong end of a contentious illegal touching penalty. Although the enraged fan base spent the majority of the week focusing on the call as the NFL released statements and videos to defend its referees, Campbell quickly moved on and turned his attention to Minnesota.
After scoring fewer than 20 points for the third time this season, the Lions are coming off one of their lowest-scoring offensive outings of the year. Despite gaining 420 yards, the offense was hindered by two turnovers and two lengthy drives that ended in field goals, which was unacceptable for such an explosive unit. With the running game producing 143 yards and three touchdowns two weeks ago, Detroit amassed 390 total yards against Minnesota’s blitz-heavy defense. Detroit hopes to repeat that performance this time around.
The defense is looking to build on its impressive December play, which included forcing three of the five games it played in into multiple turnovers, holding opponents to 23.4 points per game, and applying more reliable pressure to the pass rush. In the most recent game against Minnesota, the secondary made the most contributions, intercepting Nick Mullens four times to thwart a late comeback attempt.
Report on injuries for the Lions
The fact that the Lions are becoming healthier at the ideal point in the season is the team’s best news. To strengthen the defense, defensive tackle Alim McNeill and defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson are making their way back from extended periods on injured reserve. James Houston will miss one more week even though he was activated from injured reserve during the week, and wide receiver Jameson Williams is out after sustaining an ankle injury late in the Cowboys game.
