NFL playoff race: Vikings and Lions vie for inside track to Super Bowl LIX
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Two titans battle for the NFC North crown, home-field advantage until the Super Bowl and a first-round bye in Sunday night’s regular-season finale. Minnesota Vikings (14-2) v Detroit Lions (14-2). The final game of the regular season and it all comes down to this. Two titans battle for the NFC North crown, home-field advantage until the Super Bowl and the ivory tower of a first-round bye. The loser takes the fifth seed and a stomach-churning road game in the wild-card round.
![[Detroit’s Jared Goff was named Thursday as the starting quarterback for the NFL Pro Bowl Games.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/64a62d7651e965c47f152b5913f6ffdbf0a493cc/0_0_5767_3845/master/5767.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Detroit’s injury-hit roster needs the winner’s rest week more but will this be one title fight too many for Dan Campbell’s team? The Vikings certainly feel like they have the edge on a nine-game winning streak, yet six of those were by a one score with four by three points or fewer. If there is one offense that can keep pace with an electric opponent in a shootout, it is Jared Goff and his indomitable Lions.
What the Vikings need to do to win: Minnesota must stop Jahmyr Gibbs. The running back is a critical part of Detroit’s success. In his two most recent games, since David Montgomery’s season-ending injury, Gibbs has excelled with an increased role earning 100 or more rushing and 40 or more receiving yards in both. The only other game he hit this mark: a 31-29 win over the Vikings in October.
It is vitally important for Minnesota’s defense and specifically elite linebacker Blake Cashman to set edges and overwhelm Gibbs in space. His cuts and shifts in momentum are deadly if allowed to develop. The numbers bear this out. He has 23 rushes of 15 or more yards, second to Saquon Barkley with 25, with 118 fewer attempts than Philadelphia’s MVP contender. Gibbs is also the first player since 2018 to average 2.5 yards per carry before contact and five after contact in the same year.
