Sonic Boom: Gibbs, Lions' defense dispatch Vikings, take No. 1 seed, North title

DETROIT — The Minnesota Vikings came at the king.

And missed.

For the second straight year, the Detroit Lions are NFC North champions, and for the first time since the 1970 merger, they’re NFC regular-season champions, too. The Lions secured a first-round bye and the No. 1 seed at Ford Field Sunday night, winning one of the most highly anticipated games in NFL history, 31-9.

They roared and roared from whistle to whistle — the Lions and their fans — letting the world know that the road to Super Bowl LIX still goes through the Motor City.

Jahmyr Gibbs delivered a hat trick and then some, scoring four touchdowns to reach a franchise-record 20 touchdowns on the season.

NBC’s cameras panned across the members of Minnesota’s vaunted defense as the Vikings tried stringing together a half-hearted comeback attempt in the final minutes. Their expressions showed disappointment, frustration and shock. The Vikings gave up 31 points just twice this season: Week 7 in a loss to Detroit and Week 18 in a loss to Detroit.

A defense that welcomed back linebacker Alex Anzalone from a stint on injured reserve also brought back its swagger. The difference with Anzalone in the lineup was palpable. The Vikings had four trips inside Detroit’s 15-yard line and came away with just six points, as the Lions forced a pair of turnovers-on-downs inside their own 5-yard line. Injured star Aidan Hutchinson was on the sideline, too, pumping up the crowd and his teammates at every opportunity.

After weeks of uncertainty of how Detroit's battered defense would stack up in this game, specifically — against an arsenal of weapons led by All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson — this felt like the Lions' team that was promised.

And on a night when quarterback Jared Goff made a few poor decisions, the Lions’ defense picked up the slack again and again — as the offense has so many times throughout this historic season — to deliver the victory.

Goff threw two interceptions, and both times, he was bailed out with a defensive stand. The first was a tipped ball that gave Minnesota starting field position at Detroit's 7-yard line; the drive ended with a field goal. The second came in the third quarter; the drive ended with a field goal.

The Vikings were held to 263 yards; quarterback Sam Darnold finished 18 for 41 for 166 yards as the perfectly timed blitzes of Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn put the journeyman quarterback in a blender all night long. Detroit only sacked Darnold twice but kept him off-balance and making inaccurate throws all night long.

The Lions have clinched the division title against Minnesota in consecutive seasons, although this finish was a bit more dramatic. The Vikings will now head to Los Angeles as the NFC's No. 5 seed and play the Rams in the wild-card round, while the Lions earn a week of rest before starting the playoffs in the Divisional round.

After both teams punted on their opening possession, Detroit put together a drive straight out of the Dan Campbell School of Football. Goff withstood a blitzing Josh Metellus streaking toward him on fourth-and-5 from the Minnesota 39, delivering to Jameson Williams for a gain of 15 before Gibbs broke off a 25-yard rushing touchdown on the very next play to go up, 7-0, with 1:43 left in the first quarter.

On the next play from scrimmage, Lions — and former Vikings — defensive end Za'Darius Smith sacked Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold for a loss of 17 yards, leading to a three-and-out.

The Vikings strung together a drive early in the second quarter, reaching the 5-yard line of Detroit after Darnold hung in to deliver a 31-yard, third-down completion to Justin Jefferson. But the Lions' red-zone defense stood tall, defending a fourth-down pass to Jefferson at the 3-yard line to force a turnover on downs.

Minnesota stole some momentum when former Michigan star and Vikings linebacker Josh Metellus tipped a dump-off pass intended for running back Craig Reynolds, allowing Ivan Pace Jr. — who returned a fumble for a touchdown in the first meeting — to intercept it at the 7-yard line of Detroit. The Lions' goal-line defense held once again, though, as Darnold missed a pair of throws to Jefferson before a 25-yard field goal by Will Reichard.

The Lions got another red-zone stand near the end of the first half, after a fourth-down throw to Williams was tipped at the line for a turnover on downs. After Minnesota marched into the red zone, the defense held for a 31-yard field goal from Will Reichard that cut the Lions' lead to 7-6 with 20 seconds left in the half.

But Reichard made a massive mistake by kicking the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff, giving Detroit premium starting field position at its own 40. That was enough time to move into the range of kicker Jake Bates, who hit a 48-yard field goal to go up, 10-6, after Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond combined for 30 yards on two quick passes.

The Lions' defense got another goal-line stand out of halftime when Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold broke up a fourth-down throw to Jordan Addison for another turnover on downs. But Detroit gave the ball right back when Goff threw his worst interception of the season, tossing it up to no-man's land, where Vikings safety Harrison Smith came up with it.

Four players later, Arnold was carted to the locker room after suffering a foot injury. Detroit held the Vikings to a field goal on the possession, opening the door for Detroit to gain its largest lead of the night on its ensuing drive. The Lions gambled again on fourth down, and this time, it was money. Gibbs caught a pass over the middle and raced into the end zone for his franchise-record 18th touchdown on the season.

Minnesota responded with yet another field-goal attempt, only this one missed, wide right. Detroit smelled blood and went for the kill, going 59 yards in six plays to take a 24-9 lead with 13:06 remaining on a 13-yard run by Gibbs.

Gibbs added his fourth touchdown of the night to officially drive a stake into the Vikings' heart. Detroit had lined up for a seemingly reckless fourth-down attempt with 5:43 to go — a field goal would have put the Lions up three scores — but used a hard count to get Minnesota to jump offsides, setting up a 4-yard touchdown by Gibbs to go up 31-9 and seal the win.