On average, 28.5 million viewers watched NBC and Peacock to see the Lions beat the Vikings 31-9 and claim the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Only the 2012 regular-season finale between Washington and Dallas (30.5 million) and the 2024 season opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs (29.2 million) drew bigger SNF audiences.

Harrison Smith, in his 13th season in Minnesota, doesn’t want to forget about Sunday’s 31-9 loss to the Lions that set up a more difficult playoff path. “You learn from losses,” he said. “We learn from this.

Here are five takeaways from the Vikings’ 31-9 loss to the Lions. There’s no way around it: In the biggest game of his career to this point, quarterback Sam Darnold was completely consumed by the moment. He seemed rattled from the first time he touched the ball and only completed 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards.