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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
MINNEAPOLIS — Jared Goff wasn’t even born the last time the Detroit Lions clinched a division title.
However, on Sunday, the veteran quarterback — born in 1994 — was at the forefront of the Lions celebrating their first division championship since 1993.
With the 30-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit clinched its first division title in three decades, ending the NFL’s second longest active drought without a division title next to the Cleveland Browns (1989).
Goff passed for 257 yards and a touchdown and rookie Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns, but it was Ifeatu Melifonwu‘s game-sealing interception of a Nick Mullens pass at the Lions’ 5-yard line with 58 seconds remaining with the Vikings driving for the potential go-ahead score that sealed the victory. The interception was Mullens’ fourth of the game.
Entering the game, Goff said the current Lions team didn’t “carry the weight of the last 30 years here” with the division-winning drought. However, their head coach Dan Campbell, also a former Lions player, made it a priority for guys to understand the special opportunity they had in front of them to accomplish this season-long goal.
“I definitely do, and I think that’s what a lot of this is about, but we are a young team and most of these guys weren’t even born, the last time that they won a division,” Campbell said during Friday’s practice. “So, it’s not but I think they also understand how special it will be. You’re telling me that we can be a division winner for the first time in 30 years for an organization, that’s special. I don’t care how you cut it. So, whatever perspective you take, it’s still special. So, I think that’s the message and they understand that. Look, we want this.”
Wayne Fontes was head coach of the Lions in 1993 when they finished 10-6 and clinched the NFC Central division in the last week of the regular season with a win over the Green Bay Packers. He can barely recall his feelings during that moment, as so much time has passed, but the 83-year-old is a big fan of Campbell.
“Congratulations. Dan Campbell has done a great job. He’s an outstanding coach,” Fontes told ESPN. “The football team is well-coached. Their assistant coaches do a great job and Dan Campbell is probably one of the best coaches to come around in a long, long time in Detroit. I keep rooting for them and I think they’re gonna continue to win because again, they have a good coach, coaching staff and good players.”
“Thirty years is a long time ago,” Fontes added, laughing. “Dan Campbell deserves a good atta boy or way to go or whatever because he’s done a great job. I really believe that.”