The Detroit Lions have done it. They have clinched the first seed and back-to-back NFC North championships for the first time with a 31-9 win over the Vikings.
Goff Report
It wasn't the best Goff game ever with the two picks, but the man stood in there under pressure all night and when the Lions needed it, he helped them get it. There were multiple throws where Goff just had to sit in there and take the hit, but he got the ball off. You can forgive him for the two picks after
Crown Him
Jahmyr Gibbs is not afraid of the bright lights and the big games. He had a career night against the Vikings that saw him put up four touchdowns to go with 139 yards on the ground and 31 yards in the receiving game. He also set a new franchise record for most touchdowns in a season by a running back with 20. The kid is unreal.
Could David Montgomery be back for the next game?
This was one of the little hidden takeaways from the game on Sunday night. NBC did a little segment on David Montgomery doing a full workout with the Lions' trainers this week and how things have been positive. Then, at the end, the question for Montgomery was if he would play in the Lions' next game. His answer was, "I'm excited. I'll just say that."
Aaron Glenn coached his butt off
If you see Aaron Glenn walking around town and it appears that he has no butt, that's because he lost it on Sunday night when he coached it off. With all the injuries you can think of and the Lions not having that great of a Monday night against the 49ers in Week 17, there was fear that the Lions would get beat up on in this game.
That did not happen. The Lions absolutely stuffed the Vikings all night long, especially in the red zone, where the Lions forced two turnovers on downs. All told, the Vikings went 0-4 in the red zone. What a night.
Amik Robertson
Robertson had a big challenge to stop Justin Jefferson in the biggest game of the season and he did that. He broke up a pass that would have been a Jefferson touchdown in the end zone and he kept him off the board like that all night. Jefferson finished the night with just three catches for 54 yards on nine targets.
Under pressure
Both team's offenses were under a ton of pressure early in this game. Going into half the Lions had allowed four pressures and a sack. Unfortunately, three of those pressures were on Taylor Decker. In the second half, the Lions allowed just three more pressures.
The Vikings allowed seven pressures and a sack. The Lions were coming for Darnold all night long. Darnold was pressured 23 times and sacked twice.
Za'Darius Smith
Speaking of pressures on Darnold, Za'Darius Smith was responsible for a good amount of them. He finished the day with four pressures for 1 sack. Smith needed two sacks in this game to hit an incentive and get an extra $250 thousand. Unfortunately, he did not get that.
