It wasn’t a winner-takes-all game on Sunday, but the Detroit Lions had to approach it as if it was.
Yes, they would have remained in the driver’s seat to win the NFC North even with a Christmas Eve loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but these Lions knew that there was no upside in letting Minnesota stay alive in the division race for another week.
The Vikings, to their credit, did not make it easy for the Lions.
Minnesota briefly took a 21-17 lead early in the third quarter before Detroit quarterback Jared Goff found Amon-Ra St Brown for a touchdown that put them up front.
On the point after attempt, however, the Vikings managed to successfully block Michael Badgely’s kick for an extra point.
This seemed like a minor detail at the time, especially after Jahmyr Gibbs ran in for the touchdown that increased Detroit’s lead to nine points.
Then things got rather wobbly for the Lions.
First, the Vikings cut the lead down to six with a field goal.
In the game’s final drive, Minnesota quarterback Nick Mullens led his team all the way to Detroit’s 30-yard-line with the clock ticking down.
Because of that failed point-after attempt, the Vikings were in a position to end the game right here without even needing to pull off a two-point conversion.
Maybe in past Lions seasons, that’s how the game would have played out. When you’re a franchise that has never even made the Super Bowl, you’re used to minor mishaps snowballing into major disasters.
This season, it was the other team that made the crucial error.
The oft-erratic Mullens’s throw landed in the hands of Detroit cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu for his fourth – and most painful – interception of the game.
The Lions hung on to win 30-24, improving their record to 11-4.
Melifonwu’s interception was literally historic. With the win, the Lions clinched the NFC North for the first time ever.
The last time they won the division was in 1993, back when they were still in the NFC Central.
As the broadcasters pointed out, that was before Goff was even alive.
Sunday’s win over the Vikings means that Detroit’s Ford Field will host a postseason for the first time in its history.
The Lions have long been one of the unluckiest NFL franchises.
In their existence, they have played a grand total of 20 playoff games.
More often than not, their “big game” of the year comes in November, when they play on Thanksgiving and usually lose.
This is special,” head coach Dan Campbell said after the game.
“It’s something you don’t get to do all the time.”
Campbell should know. In his first year, the Lions ended with a 3-13-1 record.
The Lions started off their next season on a 1-6 run.
Since then, however, they have been one of the best regular season teams in the league.
Of course, neither he nor the Lions can afford to rest now.
There’s more work to be done in Detroit: the top seed in the NFC is still technically in play, although it would depend on the San Francisco 49ers losing out.
Holding onto the second seed seems like a more reasonable expectation. All of that is just postseason positioning, however.
The real goal will be to accomplish something they haven’t done since 1991 and only once in 66 years: winning a playoff game. Stay tuned.
As it turns out, the Jets needed him to have a big game, as their defense blew a 20-point halftime lead to the Washington Commanders.
The Jets eventually won 30-28 on a Greg Zuerlein field goal, but it shouldn’t have come down to that.
Cooper had previously accomplished this with the then-Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.
The only other player to accomplish this was Terrell Owens, who also did it with the Cowboys, alongside the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers.
Cooper, who also set a franchise receiving yards record, was a huge part of the Browns’ 36-22 win over the Texans.
He caught two of QB Joe Flacco’s three touchdown passes as the Browns improved their record to 10-5, all but guaranteeing them a playoff spot.
