Detroit Lions win NFC North with thrilling 30-24 victory over Minnesota Vikings (2024)

MINNEAPOLIS — The Detroit Lions are division champs, and it didn’t take a Christmas eve miracle for it to happen.

The Lions won their first division title since 1993 with a thrilling 30-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. They will be a top-3 seed in the NFC playoffs and host at least one game at Ford Field when the postseason opens in mid-January.

"This is special," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "It’s something you don’t get to do all the time. They’re always special to win a division, I don’t care how many of them you get cause of the work that goes into it. But to do something that hasn’t been done in 30 years for a team is special. And that’s a special group of men back in there that are staying tame at this point."

The Lions, who had never won the NFC North since its inception in 2002, still could climb as high as the No. 1 seed and earn homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs if the San Francisco 49ers lose two of their final three games.

The Lions visit the Dallas Cowboys next Saturday night, and likely need to win that game to be the No. 2 seed and stay home through the divisional round. The Cowboys are 7-0 at home; the Lions are 6-2 on the road.

SHAWN WINDSOR: Lions toss SOL history aside, show necessary grit to win NFC North division

At 11-4, the Lions are one win from tying the franchise record for most victories in a single season.

"It’s just kind of an overwhelming feeling," Lions center Frank Ragnow said. "You guys know, the fans know, there’s a lot of hard that goes into this day in and day out that a lot of people don’t see and to come up short for years and years and years in a row, and then to reach this, and this is just the beginning, but just to reach division champs there’s not really words that can describe it."

As they celebrated the win in the locker room after the game, wearing black T-shirts that read, "It's a lock" and gray baseball caps adorned with an NFC North champions logo, Campbell called Ragnow, Taylor Decker and several of the team's other longest-tenured players to the front of the locker room.

Ragnow said he and Decker cried in celebration, and Decker said he was too overcome with emotion to hear Lions owners Sheila Hamp's postgame message to the team.

LOOKING AHEAD: Lions closer to epic Matthew Stafford-Rams meeting in NFL playoffs at Ford Field

"It’s just like emotions overcoming you because you don’t realize how much it means to you until it happens," Ragnow said.

Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs was the star of Sunday’s win, evoking memories of the last great running back who led the Lions to a division title 30 years ago, Hall of Famer Barry Sanders.

Gibbs, the No. 12 pick in April’s draft, had 15 carries for 80 yards, scored touchdowns on runs of 14 and 3 yards, and reached 100 yards from scrimmage for the fifth time in 13 games this season.

The Lions intercepted four Nick Mullens passes, held the Vikings to 17 yards rushing and scored the second-most points against a Minnesota defense that entered Sunday sixth in the NFL in points allowed (19.2 ppg), but still needed a late defensive stand to win.

After Gibbs gave the Lions a 30-21 lead on his 3-yard run with 11:07 to play, the Lions went three-and-out on their next offensive possession, with Gibbs out of the game, and Minnesota followed with an eight-play, 76-yard field goal drive to pull within six points.

The Lions punted the ball back to the Vikings, the defending NFC North champs, with 2:23 to play, and Minnesota drove to the Detroit 30-yard line, before Ifeatu Melifonwu intercepted a Mullens pass thrown behind Justin Jefferson at the 5-yard line with 49 seconds left.

JEFF SEIDEL: Dan Campbell's no hesitation mindset helps Lions win NFC North title

Had Mullens, the Vikings’ fourth starting quarterback of the season, led Jefferson with the pass, Jefferson likely would have scored the go-ahead touchdown.

The Lions led, 17-14, after a sloppy first half that featured three turnovers, nine combined penalties and two more takeaways overturned on replay.

The Lions marched 75 yards on 14 plays on their opening drive, scoring on a 1-yard run by David Montgomery. The Vikings answered with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was kept alive by a defensive holding penalty on Brian Branch on third-and-goal. Branch dropped a would-be interception on the next play, and Ty Chandler tied the game at 7 with a 2-yard run.

Gibbs lost a fumble on the ensuing possession, one of his few mistakes on the day, but Branch intercepted Mullens on fourth-and-2 from the Lions’ 40-yard line to end the Vikings’ scoring threat.

Mullens nearly lost a fumble on a sack by Melifonwu, though replay showed he was down before the ball came loose. And Jared Goff had a fumble returned 82 yards for a touchdown by Cam Bynum overturned on replay when his arm was shown to be going forward late in the second quarter.

CARLOS MONARREZ: Dan Campbell just earned big money after leading Lions to division title

Michael Badgley made a 37-yard field goal one play after Goff’s overturned fumble to give the Lions a 10-7 lead, and Gibbs scored on a 14-yard run three plays after Kerby Joseph intercepted Mullins to put the Lions ahead 17-7.

The Vikings pulled within a field goal with 29 seconds left in the first half after Mullens found Jefferson in the back corner of the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown

Mullens completed 22 of 36 passes for 411 yards and two touchdowns to go with his four picks, and Jefferson had six catches for 141 yards, including a 28-yard grab on third-and-27 on Minnesota’s final possession, for the Vikings, who lost tight end T.J. Hockenson and receiver Jordan Addison to injuries in the game.

READ MORE: Detroit Lions NFL playoff history: 5 greatest wins all-time

Joseph had two interceptions.

Goff was 30 of 40 passing for 257 yards, Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 12 passes for 106 yards and Montgomery had 55 yards on 17 carries for the Lions.

The Lions will soon have an opportunity to snap their NFL-leading playoff drought, last winning during the 1991 season over the Cowboys.

"I’m pretty ecstatic, man," Campbell said. "This is special. This is special. Like I said, it’s a special group, and this is just the beginning. We feel that way, so there again, i couldn’t be more proud of the guys."

Contact Dave Birkett atdbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions take NFC North with nail-biting 30-24 win at Vikings