Denver Broncos 17-42 Detroit Lions: Jared Goff ties career-high for touchdowns as Lions maul Broncos

Jared Goff passed for 278 yards and a career-high tying five touchdowns, three to Sam LaPorta, as the host Detroit Lions rolled to a 42-17 over the Denver Broncos on Saturday night.

The victory secures Detroit's stranglehold on the NFC North as the Lions (10-4) look to end a six-season playoff drought, as Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, and also had a receiving touchdown - while Amon-Ra St. Brown had seven receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown.

Russell Wilson passed for 223 yards and a touchdown and added a rushing touchdown for the Broncos (7-7).

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The hosts stopped Minnesota (7-7) on fourth-and-one at the Cincinnati 42 with 6:12 left in overtime, giving the Bengals, who had the ball to start the extra period, another chance to win the game.

Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jordan Addison, who finished with six catches for 111 yards while Ty Chandler set up Minnesota's go-ahead score in the fourth quarter with a 30-yard yard run.

Chandler finished with 132 yards on 23 carries and a 1-yard TD run.

Stats leaders:

Detroit Lions

• Passing: Jared Goff, 24/34, 278 yards, 5 TDs
• Rushing: Jahmyr Gibbs, 11 carries, 100 yards, 1 TD
• Nick Montgomery, 17 carries, 85 yards
• Receiving: Amon-Ra St. Brown, 7 catches, 112 yards, 1 TD
• Sam LaPorta, 5 catches, 56 yards, 3 TDs
• Jahmyr Gibbs, 2 catches, 8 yards, 1 TD

Denver Broncos

• Passing: Russell Wilson, 18/32, 223 yards, 1 TD
• Rushing: Samaje Perine, 6 carries, 37 yards
• Russell Wilson, 18/32, 223 yards, 1 TD
• Receiving: Jerry Jeudy, 3 catches, 74 yards
• Courtland Sutton, 5 catches, 71 yards
• Lil'Jordan Humphrey, 3 catches, 16 yards, 1 TD

The Lions raced to a 21-0 halftime lead as Goff passed for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

Detroit was unable to take advantage of Isaiah Buggs' 33-yard return of a Wilson fumble in the first quarter but the Lions' offense got on track in the second quarter. They drove 80 yards in eight plays to take the lead.

Goff connected with LaPorta for 17 yards and Josh Reynolds for 21 yards. Goff then completed a short pass to LaPorta, who cut to the left and scored on the 19-yard play.

After the Broncos went three-and-out, the Lions scored again. This 61-yard drive took six plays, beginning with Goff's 20-yard pass to Reynolds. Goff finished it off with a nine-yard completion over the middle to Gibbs.

The Lions finished off their big second quarter with an 81-yard scoring drive. Goff connected with St. Brown on a 29-yard gain. They also hooked up for the 15-yard score, with St. Brown somersaulting into the end zone.

Denver broke through on its first second-half possession with the aid of a 44-yard pass interference penalty. Wilson connected with Lil'Jordan Humphrey for a three-yard touchdown.

The Lions responded with a 75-yard drive. Gibbs' 34-yard run set up Goff's three-yard touchdown pass to LaPorta.

Then came the game's most controversial moment as officials called Denver's offense for an offside penalty which wiped out a touchdown run by fullback Michael Burton as right guard Quinn Meinerz was flagged the culprit even though replays appeared to show him lined up in legal position. Instead, the Broncos had to settle for Will Lutz's 23-yard field goal in the final minute of the quarter, which made it 28-10.

Gibbs scored his second touchdown of the game with 12:12 remaining on a 12-yard run. Wilson plunged in from a yard out with 6:28 remaining.

Goff's 10-yard pass to LaPorta with 2:21 left completed the scoring.

The NFC North-leading Lions (10-4) could clinch a spot in the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season if other results go their way the rest of Week 15. The simplest scenario would be a loss or tie by Seattle to Philadelphia on Monday night.

If Detroit wins a division title for the first time since 1993, it would host a playoff game. The Lions have only one playoff victory since the franchise won the NFL title in 1957.

What did they say?

Lions QB Goff on bouncing back from poor form and playoffs aspirations. "Our superpower is how we respond as a team. We've been through a lot of adversity as a group and a three-game lull is not the worst thing we've been through. It would be fun, but we've got work to do."

Broncos QB Wilson on a controversial penalty which denied the Broncos a touchdown: "Obviously, we wanted to score (a touchdown) on that drive. Unfortunately, we didn't. More than anything else, we're frustrated we didn't score there because we were going to make it 28-14. Obviously, they ended up stopping us. That was the disappointing part."

Lions head coach Dan Campbell: "It was the ultimate team win. The defense started it out for us."

What next?

The Lions are back in action on Christmas Eve when they host the Minnesota Vikings, whilst on the same day the Broncos host the New England Patriots.

Make sure you tune in to Sky Sports NFL every Sunday at 6pm as Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Green Bay Pakcers features as the first game of our triple-header of live action. The evening's entertainment also includes NFL Redzone action as hosted by Scott Hanson, as well as Sunday Night Football to round off the night.

Sky Sports will broadcast two exclusive live games every Sunday throughout the regular season in the 6pm and 9pm slots, while also showing every Thursday Night, Sunday Night and Monday Night match-up as well as every Christmas Day fixture.

Fans can also watch every minute of the playoffs across January, followed by Super Bowl LVIII at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 11.

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