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NFL: Lions rout Vikings to claim NFC top seed

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Clock IconJan 6, 2025American Football

Jahmyr Gibbs tied a franchise record with four touchdowns as the Detroit Lions earned a first-round bye for the upcoming NFC playoffs with a convincing 31-9 rout of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Gibbs scored three touchdowns on the ground and one as a receiver while accumulating 139 rushing yards to be the difference-maker in the final - and most important - game of the 2024 NFL regular season.

The victory assured Detroit (15-2) of the conference's top seed and dropped Minnesota (14-3) to the NFC's top wild card as the No. 5 seed, meaning the Vikings must go on the road to face the Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 13 in the opening round of the playoffs.

On a night where quarterback Jared Goff threw two interceptions despite completing 27 of 33 passes for 231 yards, Gibbs and the Detroit defence carried the Lions to the NFC North title.

The Vikings failed to produce a touchdown in four trips to the red zone, two of which the Lions stopped on downs and the other two resulted in Will Reichard field goals.

Sam Darnold also struggled away from the red zone, as the Pro Bowl quarterback completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards as Minnesota's nine-game winning streak came to an end.

Gibbs opened the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter to help the Lions build a 10-6 half-time lead. Detroit then pulled away late with three consecutive touchdown drives spanning the third and fourth quarters.

A 13-play, 70-yard sequence was finished by Goff's 10-yard pass to Gibbs to stretch the lead to 17-9 late in the third quarter. Gibbs then ended Detroit's next two possessions with touchdown runs of 13 and four yards to give the Lions an insurmountable advantage entering the final five minutes.

Buccaneers rally to down Saints, clinch NFC South

Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes during a second-half rally that lifted Tampa Bay to a 27-19 win over the New Orleans Saints, a result that clinched the Buccaneers' fourth straight NFC South title.

Down 16-6 at half-time, the Buccaneers scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to punch their ticket to the playoffs. Tampa Bay (10-7) will be the NFC's No. 3 seed and will host the sixth-seeded Washington Commanders next Sunday in the opening round.

The Buccaneers also extended another streak on the game's final play, as wide receiver Mike Evans caught a 9-yard pass to join Hall of Famer Jerry Rice as the only players in NFL history to reach 1,000 receiving yards in 11 consecutive seasons.

Mayfield threw for 221 yards with one interception and earned his first victory in 44 career starts in which his team trailed by 10 or more points. The gritty quarterback began the comeback with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Payne Durham that brought Tampa Bay within 16-13 early in the third quarter.

After New Orleans (5-12) extended the margin later in the quarter on Blake Grupe's 49-yard field goal, the Bucs put together a 12-play, 82-yard drive capped by Mayfield's 32-yard pass to Jalen McMillan that put Tampa Bay up 20-19 with 10:09 remaining.

The Buccaneers then marched 94 yards in 12 plays on their next possession, which Bucky Irving finished with an 11-yard touchdown run with 1:51 left to play.

Evans finished with nine catches for 89 yards, while Irving rushed for 89 yards on 19 carries.

Broncos rout resting Chiefs to end playoff drought

Bo Nix wrapped up a strong rookie regular season with four touchdown passes to send the Denver Broncos into the playoffs for the first time since 2015 with Sunday's 38-0 domination of the short-handed Kansas City Chiefs.

Nix also set a franchise single-game record by completing his first 18 pass attempts as the Broncos easily handled a Kansas City team that rested quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the majority of its starters with the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed already sewn up.

Marvin Mims Jr. hauled in two of Nix's touchdown throws, while Courtland Sutton recorded five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Nix ended 26 of 29 for 321 yards for Denver (10-7), which will face the second-seeded Buffalo Bills next Sunday in its first post-season game in eight years.

The Broncos' defence was nearly perfect as well, as the unit limited Kansas City's depleted offence to 98 total yards and five first downs while registering five sacks.

Carson Wentz started in place of Mahomes but managed just 98 yards on 10-of-17 passing.

Kansas City (15-2), which will receive an opening-round bye, had a six-game winning streak halted and was shut out for the first time in Andy Reid's 12 seasons as head coach.

Chargers handle Raiders to secure AFC's fifth seed

Justin Herbert's 346 passing yards and two touchdowns helped catapult the Los Angeles Chargers into the AFC's No. 5 playoff seed with a 34-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

After closing out head coach Jim Harbaugh's first regular-season with three straight wins, Los Angeles (11-6) will open the post-season by visiting the AFC South champion Houston Texans on Saturday. 

The Chargers leapfrogged the Pittsburgh Steelers for the conference's top wild card behind Herbert's 28-of-36 passing and a monster day from wide receiver Quentin Johnson, who posted career highs of 13 catches and 186 receiving yards.

Cameron Dicker kicked four field goals for Los Angeles, including two in the second quarter that preceded Herbert's 6-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark that sent the Chargers into half-time with a 17-10 advantage.

Los Angeles put the game away with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, a 2-yard catch from Will Dissly and a 2-yard run from Hassan Haskins that extended the lead to 34-13 with 3:38 left to play.

Aidan O'Connell put up 214 yards with touchdown passes to Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers for Las Vegas (4-13). Meyers racked up 123 yards on nine catches, while Bowers caught four passes to finish his debut season with an NFL rookie-record 112 receptions.

Mariota steps in, sparks Commanders' win over Cowboys

Marcus Mariota accounted for three second-half touchdowns, including a go-ahead 5-yard pass to Terry McLaurin with three seconds left, after replacing a sore Jayden Daniels as the playoff-bound Washington Commanders rallied for a 23-19 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Mariota added a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and connected with Zach Ertz for a 5-yard touchdown pass in the third after taking over for Daniels, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year favourite who was removed at half-time due to leg soreness. Mariota finished with 161 passing yards while completing 15 of 18 attempts and led the Commanders with 56 rushing yards.

Daniels is expected to be fine for next week's opening round of the playoffs when Washington (12-5) will visit NFC South champion Tampa Bay on Sunday after earning the conference's No. 6 seed.

Dallas (7-10) had taken a 19-16 edge on its lone touchdown of the day, a 2-yard run by Rico Dowdle with 7:02 remaining. The Cowboys went three-and-out on their next possession, however, to give Washington the ball back deep in its own end with 3:18 left to play.

Mariota promptly marched the Commanders 91 yards in 11 plays, a drive he extended with a 33-yard run on fourth down, before his short toss into the end zone was grabbed by a leaping McLaurin for the winning score.

The Cowboys' first four scoring drives all ended on Brandon Aubrey field goals in quarterback Trey Lance's first start of the season. Lance completed 20 of 34 passes for 220 yards without an interception.

Jalen Tolbert led Dallas with 98 receiving yards on four catches, while Dowdle amassed 72 rushing yards on 22 attempts.

Titans land No. 1 overall pick in draft after loss to Texans

The Tennessee Titans will own the first overall selection in the 2025 draft after concluding a disappointing season with a 23-14 loss to the AFC South champion Houston Texans.

Tennessee (3-14) finished tied with the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants for the league's worst record but will pick ahead of those teams due to having the easiest strength of schedule among the group.

The Titans entered the regular season's final week behind New England in the race for the top pick, but the Patriots defeated the Buffalo Bills on Sunday to finish 4-13 before firing head coach Jerod Mayo following the game.

Houston (10-7), meanwhile, will enter next week's playoffs with some needed momentum after ending December with losses to fellow division winners Kansas City and Baltimore. Backup running back Dameon Pierce provided the spark with a career-high 176 rushing yards, most of which came on a 92-yard touchdown in the second quarter that pushed the Texans' lead to 13-0.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud played just one series for Houston, which he capped with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins midway through the first quarter while going 6 of 6 for 50 yards on the drive.

The fourth-seeded Texans will host the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday in the Wild Card Round.

Tennessee was kept out of the end zone until Will Levis' 49-yard touchdown pass to Tay Martin with 2:41 left. Levis finished 9 of 17 for 175 yards while rotating with Mason Rudolph at quarterback throughout the game.