Jared Goff leads surging Lions past Vikings

Jared Goff passed for 330 yards and three touchdowns as the host Detroit Lions prevented the Minnesota Vikings from clinching the NFC North title outright with a 34-23 victory on Sunday. DJ Chark caught six passes for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Jameson Williams scored a 41-yard touchdown on his first NFL reception. The Lions (6-7) have won five of their past six games. Kirk Cousins passed for 425 yards and two touchdowns for Minnesota (10-3), while Justin Jefferson caught 11 passes for 223 yards. A pair of Goff touchdown passes gave the Lions a 14-7 halftime lead. After the Lions stopped Dalvin Cook for no gain on a fourth down inside Minnesota's territory, Goff found Williams wide open two plays later on the 41-yard touchdown hookup. The Vikings answered with a 75-yard drive, capped by Cook, who took a toss from Cousins and scored from 1 yard. Kalif Raymond's 35-yard punt return set up Detroit's next score. Goff found Chark along the left side on the 48-yard touchdown with 6:34 left in the half. Midway through the third quarter, C.J. Moore raced 42 yards to the Vikings' 32-yard line on a fake punt to give the Lions a chance to get a double-digit advantage. A 14-yard pass to Raymond set up Goff's 5-yard scoring strike to Josh Reynolds for a 21-7 lead. The Vikings scored on their next possession later in the quarter on a fourth-and-4 situation. Cousins connected with Adam Thielen from 23 yards. Minnesota went for a two-point conversion and failed. A 75-yard Lions' drive made it 28-13 early in the fourth quarter. Justin Jackson capped it off with a 15-yard run. Jefferson's 47-yard reception set up Greg Joseph's 41-yard field goal with 10:47 left. Michael Badgley's 41-yard field goal pushed Detroit's advantage to 15 with 4:06 left. Minnesota responded with Cousins' 15-yard touchdown pass to K.J. Osborn. The Lions burned most of the remaining clock with the help of a 9-yard reception by Penei Sewell on a tackle-eligible play. Badgley clinched it with a 48-yard field goal with 17 seconds to play. --Field Level Media