Lions end long drought, win 1st division title since '93 - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — Jared Goff wasn't even born the last time the Detroit Lions clinched a division title.

However, on Sunday, the veteran quarterback — born in 1994 — was at the forefront of the Lions' celebrations after securing their first division championship since 1993.

With the 30-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit clinched its first division title in three decades, ending the NFL's second-longest active drought without a division title next to the Cleveland Browns (1989).

«It's cool. It really is cool,» Goff said. «Being able to really reflect on it like we did something that [hadn't been done by] team after team after team for 30 years. This 2023 team did it and broke that streak and we will guarantee a home playoff game. But, yeah, we've got some work to do next week and the following and see where we go.»

Goff passed for 257 yards and a touchdown and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns, but it was Ifeatu Melifonwu's interception of a Nick Mullens pass at the Lions' 5-yard line, with 58 seconds remaining and the Vikings driving for the potential go-ahead score, that sealed the victory. The interception was Mullens' fourth of the game.

«It was about time; that was my first career interception, and thank God for that,» Melifonwu said. «I was in a post, and I saw Justin Jefferson in the middle, then I saw the quarterback and I jumped it. When Kerby [Joseph] got two earlier, it was a matter of time. My time was coming.»

Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown also finished with his eighth 100-yard receiving game this season, tying Tyreek Hill for the most in the NFL. He ended with 12 receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown. He admitted to feeling speechless after the back-and-forth battle.

«It