Playoff picture: How the Lions can clinch their berth as soon as Thursday night

Running back Jahmyr Gibbs (age 26) of the Detroit Lions enters the field prior to the Denver Broncos game on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at Ford Field.Hudson, Ridley | MLive.com

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Author: Kyle Meinke; email: kmeinke@mlive.com
ALLEN PARK — For one more week, the third-longest NFL postseason drought is still active.

Remain calm. There won’t be much more waiting for you.

With just three games remaining, the Detroit Lions (10-4) now have a three-game lead over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. That means that they need to win their division and host their first-ever playoff game at Ford Field in order to qualify for the postseason.

If you win any game, Detroit will once again host postseason football.

Any Minnesota defeat would also work.

You might not even have to wait that long for Detroit to formally return to the dance for the first time since 2016—that depends on what transpires on Thursday Night Football. It would also work if the Los Angeles Rams lost (or tied) their game against the Buffalo Bills. As would the Seattle Seahawks’ Sunday afternoon loss (or tie) to the Tennessee Titans.

And the Lions would still need a victory in their next two games to complete the sweep, even if everything went against them. Week 17 finds them traveling to Dallas, then they return to Ford Field to play Minnesota in the last regular-season game.

Detroit still has a chance to finish first in the NFC, but it would need them to win the entire season in addition to the San Francisco 49ers suffering two losses. It doesn’t seem likely.

However, the Lions would be assured of at least the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and would host the first two rounds at Ford Field if they handle business in the last stretch, going 3-0 against the Vikings (twice) and Cowboys.

They now have the third seed in the NFL, which may lead to a first-round matchup at Ford Field with the Vikings. Fascinatingly, that would mark the teams’ third meeting in a span of twenty-one days.

However, a potential first-round matchup with the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Rams might be set up if the Vikings falter in the closing weeks—they do play Detroit twice in the next three weeks. The plots are as delicious as they are obvious: Jared Goff attempts to defeat the team he previously led to a Super Bowl before being summarily dismissed, and Matthew Stafford makes his return to Ford Field in Detroit’s first playoff game in thirty years.