They're in!
The Detroit Lions clinched a spot in the NFC playoff bracket after beating the Green Bay Packers, 34-31 , on "Thursday Night Football" at Ford Field to move to 12-1 in 2024. The Lions are in the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1994-95 seasons and firmed up their grip on first place in both the NFC and NFC North.
The Lions now have a 1½-game lead over the Minnesota Vikings , own the tiebreaker over the Packers in the division, and have pushed their lead over Green Bay to three games with four weeks of the regular season remaining.
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The Lions have also tied the franchise record for wins in a season (12), in nearly the least amount of time possible and set a new record for consecutive wins (11) to snap a record that stood since 1934. Detroit has games remaining against the Buffalo Bills , Chicago Bears , San Francisco 49ers and Vikings to try to break the record and clinch the top overall seed in the NFC for the first time since the NFL introduced its current playoff bracket system.
According to the New York Times' NFL playoff simulator, the Lions now have an 84% chance of clinching the NFC's 1-seed. The Philadelphia Eagles and Vikings are the two teams on the Lions' tail at 10-2. The Eagles, who host the Carolina Panthers , and Vikings, who host the Falcons, also can clinch playoff spots in the NFC this week.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press . Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22 , and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
(This story was updated to add a video.)
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions lock up NFL playoff spot with win over Green Bay Packers
