Lions vs Vikings
Lions roar to 12-5, first division title since 1993, and first playoff win since 1991.
The 2023 season was the Detroit Lions' 94th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 90th in Detroit, and their third under the head coach/general manager tandem of Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes. The Lions improved upon their 9–8 record from the previous season, after a Week 15 win against the Denver Broncos gave them their first 10-win season since 2014. The Lions finished the regular season with a 12–5 record, tying a franchise record for wins and ending up in a three-way tie with the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys for the best record in the NFC. Their .706 winning percentage was their best since 1991.
Lore & Background
After a win against the Chicago Bears in Week 11, the Lions started 8–2 for the first time since 1962. After a Week 16 win against the Minnesota Vikings, the Lions won their first division title since 1993, and their first ever as a member of the NFC North following the NFL's division realignment in 2002. This also marks their first playoff appearance since 2016. The win assured them their first home playoff game since 1993 and only their third since winning their last NFL title in 1957. However, they were seeded third for the NFC playoffs, having lost the conference record tiebreaker to the 49ers and the head-to-head record to the Cowboys.
Reader's Guide
In their first playoff game at Ford Field, the Lions defeated their former quarterback Matthew Stafford and current quarterback Jared Goff's former team, the Los Angeles Rams 24–23 in the Wild Card game for their first playoff victory since the 1991 season, ending the longest winless post-season drought in the NFL. The Lions hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round, which marked the first time the Lions hosted two playoff games in the same season in franchise history. The Lions defeated the Buccaneers 31–23 to advance to the NFC Championship for the first time since the 1991 season. However, they yielded a 24–7 lead and lost in the NFC Championship Game to the San Francisco 49ers 34–31.
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