The Minnesota Vikings improved to 8-8 with their 23-10 win over the Detroit Lions Thursday. The Vikings defense tortured Jared Goff and the Lions offense forcing six

If the Vikings weren’t going to be able to compete for a Super Bowl, they wanted to make sure neither were the Detroit Lions. That mindset served as motivation for the Vikings on Thursday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium en route to a 23-10 win that officially eliminated the Lions from the playoffs.

Vikings' fans gave Harrison Smith a standing ovation after a huge game in Thursday's 23-10 win over the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium. Smith got a game ball, and got emotional in the locker room after the win.

Rock Valley, Iowa, native Andrew Van Ginkel served as a major catalyst for the Vikings defense in their 23-10 Christmas Day win over the Detroit Lions. Van Ginkel recovered two fumbles. The first came in late in the first quarter and gave Minnesota the ball in the redzone,

Following its loss at Minnesota, Jared Goff and Dan Campbell were tabbed as two of USA TODAY Sports' Christmas Day NFL "losers."

With a win, the Ravens would have an identical 8-8 record to the Lions. If the two teams finish with the same record, the Lions would likely be awarded the higher draft pick based on strength of schedule, which is the aggregate winning percentage of a team’s opponents.

Despite a furious comeback attempt by the Detroit Lions, the Pittsburgh Steelers recorded a 29-24 win in a wild game that literally came down to the wire.

The Detroit Lions have gifted the division rival Green Bay Packers a spot in the playoffs. With six turnovers in a 23-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, Detroit was eliminated from postseason contention.

The Lions can only make the playoffs as the 7-seed, which will play the 2-seed in the wild-card round. Currently the 2-seed is the Bears, who have clinched a playoff berth and are a win OR a Packers loss away from winning the NFC North.

The Detroit Lions' regression after losing both their offensive and defensive coordinators was expected, but this level of regression sure wasn't.