What we learned in NFL Week 18: Lions show grit, Broncos take care of business

The NFC playoffs will run through the Motor City.

In the 272nd and final game of the 2024 regular season — one pitting two teams with 28 combined wins — the Lions clinched the No. 1 seed and a second straight NFC North title with an emphatic 31-9 victory over the Vikings Sunday night at Ford Field.

It was a testament to what Dan Campbell has built in Detroit. At one point this season, the Lions had 21 players on injured reserve, including six defensive starters. Plenty wrote them off in the crowded race for the conference’s top spot. The Eagles would supplant them, most figured. Or maybe the red-hot Vikings.

“No one’s gonna write our story for us,” Campbell said then.

He was right. Over the closing weeks of the season, the Lions proved once again how tough a team they’ve become. Detroit simply overpowered Minnesota, scoring the game’s final 21 points. It was more than just Jahmyr Gibbs’ four touchdowns: The Lions’ defense stifled Sam Darnold all game long, holding the Vikings to 3 of 13 on third down and 0 of 4 on fourth down.

Detroit finishes the regular season with a franchise-record 15 wins and, along with Kansas City in the AFC, will enjoy a first-round bye next week. The 14-3 Vikings, meanwhile, will head to Los Angeles to take on the Rams next Monday night in the wild-card round.

Now that the NFC North has been decided, the playoff field is officially set. Next weekend’s wild-card round will feature Jim Harbaugh’s return to the postseason, a third meeting this season between the Steelers and Ravens and a rematch of the NFL’s first-ever game in Brazil between the Packers and Eagles.

In the AFC, the Broncos locked up the final playoff spot Sunday with a 38-0 rout of the Chiefs, who rested their starters after clinching the No. 1 seed back on Christmas. In the NFC, the Bucs clinched the final available spot with a comeback win over the Saints that secured the team’s fourth straight NFC South title.

That leaves the Bengals, Dolphins and Falcons — teams with a chance heading into Sunday — out of the postseason.

In the race for the top pick in this spring’s NFL Draft, the Patriots’ victory over the Bills came at a cost, dropping New England three spots in the draft order. Tennessee is officially on the clock.

At MetLife Stadium, Aaron Rodgers helped the Jets finish a disastrous year with a win — and joined one of the most exclusive clubs in league history in the process. In what could end up being his final game in the NFL, Rodgers threw four touchdown passes to join Tom Brady (649), Drew Brees (571), Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508) as the only quarterbacks in league history to throw for more than 500 in a career.

Two rookies playing for lousy teams capped stellar seasons: Raiders tight end Brock Bowers finished with 112 catches while Giants receiver Malik Nabers finished with 109, the two highest reception totals by first-year players in league history.

Here’s what we learned on the final Sunday of the regular season:

Lions refuse to break

Grit isn’t just a slogan in Detroit.

As terrific as Gibbs was Sunday night — 170 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns — the win over Minnesota was as much about Aaron Glenn’s defense, which met the moment with so much at stake.

Perhaps no other unit in football was more gashed by injuries this season, and by December the ramifications in Detroit started to show. Starters were dropping what seemed like every game. The Lions had lost a step. They allowed 31 points to the Packers. Then 48 to the Bills in a loss. Then 34 to San Francisco in Week 17.

How long could the offense keep carrying them?

But on Sunday night, with one of those defensive starters back (linebacker Alex Anzalone) Detroit was at its best in the biggest moments, continually slowing Darnold and the Vikings’ passing attack. At one point mid-game, Minnesota made four consecutive trips to the red zone and came away with a combined six points. The Vikings settled for two field goals and were twice stopped on fourth down.

Darnold would finish 18 of 41 for 166 yards and no touchdowns. Justin Jefferson caught just three passes on nine targets, continually blanketed in coverage by a depleted Lions secondary. Aaron Jones finished with just 45 yards on 10 carries. As a whole, the Vikings — winners of nine straight heading into this one — managed just 262 total yards on offense and three field goals.

Gibbs pounced, scoring three touchdowns after halftime to put the game away.

Denver snaps streak

So much for drama in the AFC playoff picture.

The Broncos took care of business, defeating the Chiefs’ backups 38-0 to squash any lingering hope the Dolphins and Bengals had at grabbing the conference’s final playoff spot. Denver is in the dance for the first time since 2015, which also happens to be the last time the Broncos hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.

It continues a tremendous season for Sean Payton, who jettisoned quarterback Russell Wilson after last year’s 8-9 disappointment, absorbed Wilson’s record-setting $53 million dead cap hit, drafted a rookie passer in Bo Nix and promptly led the Broncos to 10 wins and a playoff berth.

By virtue of the Dolphins’ loss to the Jets, the Bengals would’ve been in line for the AFC’s final spot had the Broncos lost. But Sunday’s game was never in doubt. With Denver facing Carson Wentz at quarterback and a host of Kansas City reserves, Nix connected on his first 18 passes and finished with 321 yards and four touchdowns.

The Broncos’ reward? A trip to Orchard Park, N.Y., and a date with Josh Allen and the Bills on wild-card weekend.

Perfect day for Evans, Bucs

The division title had been clinched, the playoff spot secured. But the Bucs had more work to do.

Mike Evans needed five yards.

So not until the veteran receiver snared a short pass from Baker Mayfield and took it for a nine-yard gain in the waning moments of Sunday’s 27-19 win over the Saints— cementing Evans’ 11th straight 1,000-yard season — did the Tampa Bay sideline really start to celebrate.

Not only had Evans secured a $3 million bonus, but also he’d climbed into rare territory in the NFL record books, tying Jerry Rice for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in league history.

“This guy means so much to the community, this team, this organization — for years,” Mayfield said of his teammate. “To reach that feat and tie Jerry Rice? Unbelievable.”

For a Bucs team that started 4-6, was swept by the Falcons and slogged through a four-game midseason losing skid, Sunday was the perfect ending to the regular season. Thanks to some clutch throws from Mayfield, Tampa Bay rallied from a 19-13 third-quarter deficit to earn its 10th victory of the year and clinch its fourth straight division title. In the two years since Tom Brady retired, the Bucs have refused to relinquish the NFC South crown.

In the end, the Bucs didn’t need the win, because the Falcons fell to the Panthers later in the day, eliminating Atlanta from postseason contention. But Tampa Bay’s victory secured the NFC’s No. 3 seed and a wild-card weekend matchup with the Commanders.

Titans on the clock

The Patriots’ stint atop the 2025 NFL Draft board lasted all of seven days.

With New England’s 23-16 victory over the Bills — who rested their starters — the Patriots earned their fourth victory of the season and slid back three spots in the draft order to No. 4. So instead of the Patriots having the franchise’s first No. 1 overall pick since 1993, when it took Drew Bledsoe, the Titans are now on the clock for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Tennessee — one of three teams to finish 3-14— edged the Browns and Giants for the top spot via the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker.

It’s the first time the franchise will pick first since the Houston Oilers took Earl Campbell at the top of the 1978 draft.

Mayo out; who’s next?

Sunday opened with three head-coaching vacancies: the Jets, Saints and Bears. The Patriots wasted little time becoming the fourth.

Less than an hour after New England’s win over Buffalo, Patriots owner Robert Kraft informed Jerod Mayo he wouldn’t return as coach. Mayo — a former linebacker for the team and Kraft’s hand-picked successor to Bill Belichick — lasted just one year in Foxboro.

“Unfortunately, the trajectory of our team’s performance throughout the season did not ascend as I had hoped,” Kraft wrote in a statement.

Thus, the Mike Vrabel sweepstakes just got a whole lot more interesting. Vrabel is another former Patriot and is expected to be near the top of Kraft’s list.

And now that Black Monday has arrived, more openings are sure to come.

Teams that won’t be making a change include the Colts: Owner Jim Irsay released a statement Sunday night that said coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard will return in 2025.

Ditto for the Dolphins: coach Mike McDaniel and GM Chris Grier will be back next season.

In Dallas, Jerry Jones said Sunday that he’s yet to make his mind up on Mike McCarthy, whose Cowboys stumbled to a 7-10 season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020. McCarthy’s contract expires next week.

“I don’t like to talk about myself,” McCarthy told reporters after Dallas’ 23-19 loss to Washington. “But I’ll just be clear: I’m a winner. I know how to win. I’ve won a championship. I’ve won a championship in this building. And that’s who I am. We’ll see where it goes.”

McCarthy is 49-35 in five seasons in Dallas but 1-3 in the playoffs.

The Jaguars finished 4-13 and have a decision to make on Doug Pederson, who two years ago led Jacksonville to an AFC South title and a playoff win. The team started 8-3 in 2023 and was in the running for the AFC’s top seed until it fell apart, dropping five of six to close the season and miss the playoffs while star quarterback Trevor Lawrence battled through injury. This year was a disaster from the start. Lawrence got hurt again, and Pederson’s future with the team has been in doubt since the Jaguars started 0-4.

Meanwhile, Raiders owner Mark Davis will weigh the future of Antonio Pierce, who went 4-13 in his first full season leading the team. Pierce offered “no comment” multiple times when asked about his job status after Sunday’s 34-20 loss to the Chargers.

The Giants just wrapped up the franchise’s worst season since 2016, and owner John Mara will have to decide if Brian Daboll deserves another year. Just two seasons ago — Daboll’s first in New York — he was the NFL’s Coach of the Year. He’s 9-25 since, and the Giants enter the offseason in dire need of help at the quarterback position.

(Photo of Marvin Mims Jr.: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)