NFL roundup: Lions pummel Vikings, snag No. 1 seed in NFC for first time

Jahmyr Gibbs had 170 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns and the host Detroit Lions pulled away for a 31-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Jared Goff completed 27 of 33 passes for 231 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for Detroit (15-2). Gibbs rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns and caught five passes for 31 yards and one score.

Sam Darnold completed 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards for Minnesota (14-3), which was held without a touchdown. The Vikings’ nine-game winning streak ended.

The Lions clinched the NFC North title for the second year in a row. They will have a bye next week and have secured home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

The Vikings will enter the postseason as a wild-card team and the No. 5 seed in the NFC. They will travel to Inglewood, Calif., to face the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 13.

Gibbs gave the Lions the upper hand with three straight touchdowns in the second half.

Detroit was clinging to a 10-9 lead when Gibbs caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Goff with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. His score, which came on fourth-and-2, gave the Lions a 17-9 lead.

Gibbs added a 13-yard rushing touchdown to increase Detroit’s lead to 24-9 with 13:06 remaining in the fourth.

The second-year running back out of Alabama was not finished. He powered across the goal line for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 31-9 with 5:14 to go.

Gibbs joined Barry Sanders as the only running backs in team history to score four touchdowns in a game. He also recorded the franchise record for most rushing and receiving touchdowns in a single season (20), surpassing the previous mark of 17 set by Sanders during the 1991 campaign and matched by Jamaal Williams in 2022.

Detroit opened the scoring with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. Gibbs cut to his left and sprinted for a 25-yard touchdown.

The Vikings pulled within 7-6 after back-to-back field goals by Will Reichard.

Jake Bates hit a 48-yard field goal to give Detroit a 10-6 advantage at the break.

Reichard made his third field goal of the game, a 51-yarder, to cut the Vikings’ deficit to 10-9 with 9:55 left in the third quarter.

Chargers beat Raiders to lock up No. 5 seed in AFC

Quentin Johnston hauled in a career-high 13 receptions for 186 yards, leading the Los Angeles Chargers to a 34-20 win over the host Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Justin Herbert threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns, completing 28 of 36 passes en route to a 125.2 passer rating. Ladd McConkey chipped in 95 yards on five catches, while J.K. Dobbins added 63 rushing yards on 18 carries to finish the regular season with a career-high 905 rushing yards.

The Chargers clinched the fifth seed in the AFC playoff picture with the win, meaning they’ll head to Houston to face the Texans in the wild-card round next weekend. Los Angeles played all of its regular starters on Sunday, presumably with the intention of earning that fifth seed and avoiding a first-round game against the Ravens’ record-setting offense in Baltimore.

Aidan O’Connell threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns, completing 24 of 34 pass attempts. Jakobi Meyers hauled in nine receptions for 123 yards as he reached the 1,000 yards in a season for the first time in his six-year career.

Brock Bowers added four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown to finish his rookie campaign with 112 receptions. The Las Vegas tight end set the single-season reception record for a rookie at any position.

The Chargers took a 17-10 lead into halftime after scoring 11 points in the final 1:05 of the second quarter. Daiyan Henley intercepted O’Connell and returned it to the Raiders’ 30-yard line with 44 seconds left in the half, a mere 21 seconds of game time after Cameron Dicker trimmed the Raiders’ lead to 10-9 with a 49-yard field goal.

The Chargers’ offense only needed four plays to capitalize, as Herbert found DJ Chark for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining in the half. Herbert then found Ladd McConkey for the two-point conversion, pushing Los Angeles’ lead to a touchdown at the break.

The Chargers added insurance with a 2-yard touchdown connection from Herbert to tight end Will Dissly with 13:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, after Herbert set the Chargers in the red zone with a 41-yard scramble two plays earlier.

Hassan Haskins punched it in from the 2-yard line to give the Chargers a 34-13 lead late in the fourth.

Bowers caught a 12-yard touchdown in the final minute of the game to cap his standout season.

Texans roll into playoffs, as Titans clinch No. 1 draft pick

C.J. Stroud threw a touchdown pass and Dameon Pierce rushed for 176 yards and another score as the Houston Texans tuned up for the playoffs with a 23-14 defeat of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Nashville.

Houston (10-7), which clinched the AFC South title back in Week 15, earned the fourth seed and will host the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round.

With their loss and the New England Patriots’ victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Titans (3-14) received the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Stroud completed all six of his passes for 50 yards on the game’s first possession, finding Nico Collins for a 2-yard strike at the 7:43 mark. Houston coach DeMeco Ryans hooked Stroud at that point and used backup Davis Mills, who was 12 of 22 for 128 yards.

A large portion of Pierce’s yardage came via a 92-yard touchdown run with 13:55 left in the second quarter that gave the Texans a 13-0 lead.

Tennessee started Will Levis at quarterback and also used Mason Rudolph. Levis hit 9 of 17 passes for 175 yards, including a 49-yard scoring strike to Tay Martin with 2:41 left in the game, while Rudolph was 7 of 9 for 70 yards.

Tony Pollard rushed 22 times for 62 yards, falling 21 yards shy of 1,100 yards for the year. That would have triggered an automatic $250,000 bonus. Calvin Ridley collected 76 receiving yards, giving him his third 1,000-yard receiving season with three teams (2023 Jacksonville Jaguars, 2020 Atlanta Falcons). The Texans took a 16-3 lead to halftime after the teams swapped field goals in the last two minutes of the first half. Matthew Wright hit from 35 for Tennessee before Ka’imi Fairbairn connected from 27 as time expired.

Broncos blast Chiefs to clinch playoff spot

Bo Nix’s career day punched the Denver Broncos’ ticket to the playoffs with a 38-0 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.

It is the first time since the 2015 season that the Broncos have reached the postseason.

Nix completed his first 18 passes and was 26 of 29 for the game, an 89.7 completion percentage that set a new Broncos’ single-game record. Nix set a career high with 321 yards and also had four touchdown passes. He led the Broncos with 47 rushing yards as the club clinched the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs.

With the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs wrapped up, the Chiefs rested Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, Chris Jones, Jawaan Taylor and George Karlaftis.

Cortland Sutton had five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Marvin Mims Jr. hauled in five passes for 51 yards and two touchdowns and Devaughn Vele had four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown for Denver (10-7).

Nik Bonitto had two sacks, Jonathon Cooper, Jordan Jackson and John Franklin-Myers each had a sack for Denver. The Broncos (10-7) held the Chiefs (15-2) to five first downs and 98 total yards.

Carson Wentz was 10-of-17 passing for 98 yards for the Chiefs.

The Broncos opened the game with a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive. A play-action pass play featured a fake hand off, fake reverse and screen pass from Nix to Mims for a 32-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

After its defense forced the Chiefs into a three-and-out, Nix engineered a 10-play, 85-yard scoring drive. The big play was a 47-yard completion where Nix rolled to his right and lofted a deep pass to Sutton. Two plays later, the same duo hooked up for a 10-yard touchdown and the Broncos took a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

Commanders edge Cowboys, secure NFC’s No. 6 seed

Marcus Mariota’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin with three seconds left gave the Washington Commanders a 23-19 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.

The Commanders (12-5) nailed down the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs and won 12 games for the first time since 1991.

Dallas (7-10) closed its season by losing three of its last five games.

Mariota kept the 11-play, 91-yard drive alive with a 33-yard carry on fourth-and-1. Three plays later, he hit McLaurin for the winning score.

Jayden Daniels played the first half and finished 6-of-12 passing for 38 yards, along with four carries for 27 yards. Mariota was 15-of-18 passing for 161 yards and two touchdowns. He also had five carries for a team-high 56 yards and a touchdown.

McLaurin had eight catches for 62 yards. Zach Ertz had five grabs for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Trey Lance, the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, made his first start since Sept. 18, 2022, and was 20-of-34 passing for 244 yards for the Cowboys.

Rico Dowdle had 22 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown. Jalen Tolbert caught four passes for 98 yards.