There is a new name at the top of the Detroit Lions single-season touchdown list.
Barry Sanders and Jamaal Williams were previously tied atop the list for most touchdowns in a Lions season with 17. After Jahmyr Gibbs‘ three rushing touchdowns and one receiving score Sunday night in a 31-9 win over Minnesota, he now sits atop the list with 20.
Gibbs’ big day helped propel the Lions to a franchise-record 15th victory of the season and a second straight NFC North title. Detroit also secured the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs, which gives them a bye through next week’s Wild Card playoff round and gives Detroit home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“He was big and I felt like he gained steam as the game went on,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Gibbs after the game. “I thought he got better and better and better. You could really feel it after that last red zone stop and that next carry, he just breaks it down the sideline. You could feel it.
“He was big for us, and we felt like he was going to need to be big for us to win that game. All those guys needed to play well for us but we felt Gibbs could somewhat be the X factor.”
Gibbs had 139 rushing yards on 23 carries (6.0 avg.) and also chipped in five catches for 31 yards, finding the end zone four times. He is now the only player in Lions history to produce 1,900-plus scrimmage yards and 20-plus touchdowns in a single season.