Lions pummel Broncos en route to 10th victory; can clinch postseason berth with Seahawks loss Monday

Rookie tight end Sam LaPorta caught three touchdown passes as the Detroit Lions walloped the Denver Broncos 42-17 to claim their 10th victory of the season, positioning themselves on the cusp of clinching a playoff berth.

The Lions (10-4) are guaranteed a spot in the postseason with a Seattle Seahawks (6-7) loss on Monday night or as early as Sunday, if a few other results go their way. They can clinch their first division title since 1993 with a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Eve.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Lions poured in 21 unanswered points to enter halftime. Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes — and completed 19 of 26 passes for 215 yards — in the first half alone while Wilson was just 4-of-10 passing for 69 yards, taking two sacks within the first two frames. Goff tacked on an extra two touchdown passes in the second half and Wilson finished with 223 yards and a score.

After the first-half shutout, the Broncos stopped the bleeding early in the third quarter when Wilson found Lil’Jordan Humphrey for the team’s only TD pass of the day. The Lions responded with a touchdown drive of their own to go up 28-7 before running away with the game.

Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown reeled in seven receptions for 112 yards and one touchdown. Jahmyr Gibbs added 100 yards and a score on the ground for Detroit.

With the win, the Lions take a commanding lead atop the NFC North while the Broncos drop to 7-7 and remain behind the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

A bounce-back effort for the Lions

Talk about a bounce-back effort. Goff threw five touchdowns, shaking off a rough start for arguably his best game of the season. Rookies Gibbs and LaPorta combined for five touchdowns. The defense was stellar, holding the Broncos to 17 points and 287 total yards. What we saw from the Lions on Saturday evening was arguably their most complete game of the season. It comes after a stretch of two losses in three games — a period where you didn’t know which unit would perform. But the Lions were firing on all cylinders tonight. The end result? A comfortable 42-17 win.

The Lions needed that. They needed a comfortable win. They needed their best players to perform in December. They got all of that and more. The stars are aligning, and it’s all because the Lions took care of business this evening. — Colton Pouncy, Lions staff writer

GO DEEPER

Lions on cusp of playoff berth after beating Broncos, and perhaps much more

Broncos struggle with Detroit’s speed

The middle of the field for the Lions was an open expressway. Whether it was St. Brown or LaPorta or Gibbs or Josh Reynolds or Jameson Williams, the Broncos simply couldn’t keep pace with all the speedy targets in Detroit’s passing game. Goff got the ball out quickly and Detroit turned relatively short receptions into big catch-and-run explosives all night.

It didn’t help that Denver’s defense was on the field for all but 11 minutes in the first half as Detroit built a 21-0 lead. The Broncos’ defense, which has been on a tear since a 1-5 start, looked like a unit playing a third road game in 13 days against a quicker opponent.

The Lions simply pulled any levers they wanted Saturday while tallying more than 400 yards of total offense. — Nick Kosmider, Broncos staff writer

What does this mean for the Broncos’ playoff hopes?

The loss to the Lions all but eliminates the AFC West title as a playoff path for the Broncos. They are two games back of the Chiefs in the loss column — Kansas City visits New England on Sunday — and are on the wrong side of the division and common-opponent tiebreakers. Denver would need to win out and have the Chiefs lose two of their remaining four games — all but one of which are against sub-.500 opponents — to have a shot to win the West. Not likely.

The good news for the Broncos: The path to a 10-7 record, which odds suggest would get Denver into the postseason for the first time since 2015, is a realistic one. The Broncos next host the Patriots (3-10) and Chargers (5-9) before closing the season on the road against the Raiders (6-8).

Bottom line: The Broncos are out of mulligans. — Kosmider

GO DEEPER

Broncos’ lack of explosive talent on display in loss to Lions that threatens playoff bid

Required reading

(Photo: Rey Del Rio / Getty Images)