The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings are set to square off in one of the more highly anticipated regular season games in recent memory. Both teams come in at 14-2, a win? You’re the number one seed in the NFC and have a first round bye.
The loser will be the 5th seed and head on the road during the wild card round. Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Vikings defensive coordinator Bryan Flores worked together in Miami.
Johnson remembers that time well.
Lions Ben Johnson Seemingly Takes Direct Shot At Vikings Bryan Flores After Firing In Miami
In a video posted by Woodward Sports Network:
Lions OC Ben Johnson smirks about not being retained by Vikings DC Bryan Flores when he was Dolphins HC
Sunday Night is going to be incredible
Lions OC Ben Johnson smirks about not being retained by Vikings DC Brian Flores when he was Dolphins HC 😏
Sunday Night is going to be incredible pic.twitter.com/dnGvTXPrWr
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) January 2, 2025
In this game, the stakes are high, and NBC Sports announced some historic news ahead of the game: this is the first time in NFL history that two teams with at least 13 wins will face off for the No. 1 seed:
Both head coaches have guided their teams to remarkable seasons, each overcoming their own set of unique challenges. Dan Campbell and the Lions, despite having a talent-rich roster, have been battered by a wave of injuries, losing more than ten starters on defense, along with one of their key offensive weapons, David Montgomery.
Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings, on the other hand, were expected to be the underdogs, like a scrappy fighter counted out before the bell rings. They lost their first-round quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, to a season-ending injury, forcing them to rely on Sam Darnold, who was entering a “prove-it” year.
Now, Darnold’s performance has been so impressive, he’s expected to be one of the highest-paid quarterbacks this offseason—turning his “underdog” status into a Cinderella story.
Here is a look at Jared Goff’s stats this season with Ben Johnson as his OC:
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Team | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Lng | Sk | Yds | Att | Yds | TD | Lng | Fmb | ||||||||||||
| 2024-12-30 | DET | @ | SFO | W 40-34 | 26 | 34 | 76.5 | 303 | 3 | 8.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 42 | 8.9 | 10.68 | 11.7 | 132.4 | 2 | 16 | 5.56 | 7.97 | 9.64 | 3 | -3 | 0 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 |
| 2024-12-22 | DET | @ | CHI | W 34-17 | 23 | 32 | 71.9 | 336 | 3 | 9.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 82 | 10.5 | 12.38 | 14.6 | 137.0 | 1 | 7 | 3.03 | 9.97 | 11.79 | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 |
| 2024-12-15 | DET | BUF | L 42-48 | 38 | 59 | 64.4 | 494 | 5 | 8.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 66 | 8.4 | 10.07 | 13.0 | 118.9 | 3 | 21 | 4.84 | 7.63 | 9.24 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 6.5 | 1 | |
| 2024-12-05 | DET | GNB | W 34-31 | 32 | 41 | 78.0 | 283 | 3 | 7.3 | 1 | 2.4 | 28 | 6.9 | 7.27 | 8.8 | 109.7 | 1 | 3 | 2.38 | 6.67 | 7.02 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 1.8 | 0 | |
| 2024-11-28 | DET | CHI | W 23-20 | 21 | 34 | 61.8 | 221 | 2 | 5.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 30 | 6.5 | 7.68 | 10.5 | 100.2 | 1 | 9 | 2.86 | 6.06 | 7.20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | |
| 2024-11-24 | DET | @ | IND | W 24-6 | 26 | 36 | 72.2 | 269 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 27 | 7.5 | 7.47 | 10.3 | 93.4 | 3 | 16 | 7.69 | 6.49 | 6.49 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2024-11-17 | DET | JAX | W 52-6 | 24 | 29 | 82.8 | 412 | 4 | 13.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 64 | 14.2 | 16.97 | 17.2 | 158.3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 14.21 | 16.97 | 4 | 21 | 0 | 8 | 5.3 | 0 | |
| 2024-11-10 | DET | @ | HOU | W 26-23 | 15 | 30 | 50.0 | 240 | 2 | 6.7 | 5 | 16.7 | 37 | 8.0 | 1.83 | 16.0 | 59.7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 8.00 | 1.83 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2024-11-03 | DET | @ | GNB | W 24-14 | 18 | 22 | 81.8 | 145 | 1 | 4.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 26 | 6.6 | 7.50 | 8.1 | 109.3 | 1 | 8 | 4.35 | 5.96 | 6.83 | 3 | -2 | 0 | 0 | -0.7 | 0 |
| 2024-10-27 | DET | TEN | W 52-14 | 12 | 15 | 80.0 | 85 | 3 | 20.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 24 | 5.7 | 9.67 | 7.1 | 129.9 | 4 | 33 | 21.05 | 2.74 | 5.89 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 2 | |
| 2024-10-20 | DET | @ | MIN | W 31-29 | 22 | 25 | 88.0 | 280 | 2 | 8.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 35 | 11.2 | 12.80 | 12.7 | 140.0 | 4 | 33 | 13.79 | 8.52 | 9.90 | 2 | -4 | 0 | 0 | -2.0 | 2 |
| 2024-10-13 | DET | @ | DAL | W 47-9 | 18 | 25 | 72.0 | 315 | 3 | 12.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 52 | 12.6 | 15.00 | 17.5 | 153.7 | 2 | 17 | 7.41 | 11.04 | 13.26 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1.7 | 0 |
| 2024-09-30 | DET | SEA | W 42-29 | 18 | 18 | 100.0 | 292 | 2 | 11.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 70 | 16.2 | 18.44 | 16.2 | 155.8 | 3 | 26 | 14.29 | 12.67 | 14.57 | 2 | -2 | 0 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | |
| 2024-09-22 | DET | @ | ARI | W 20-13 | 18 | 23 | 78.3 | 199 | 2 | 8.7 | 1 | 4.3 | 24 | 8.7 | 8.43 | 11.1 | 113.6 | 2 | 13 | 8.00 | 7.44 | 7.24 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2024-09-15 | DET | TAM | L 16-20 | 34 | 55 | 61.8 | 307 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 3.6 | 50 | 5.6 | 3.95 | 9.0 | 61.7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.58 | 3.95 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2.5 | 0 | |
| 2024-09-08 | DET | LAR | W 26-20 (OT) | 18 | 28 | 64.3 | 217 | 1 | 3.6 | 1 | 3.6 | 52 | 7.8 | 6.86 | 12.1 | 85.0 | 2 | 17 | 6.67 | 6.67 | 5.83 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | |
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