Amon-Ra St. Brown is like most wide receivers, he wants the ball. But as the Detroit Lions gathered on the sideline before the start of overtime, St. Brown told anyone who’d listen to put the ball in Jahmyr Gibbs’ hands.

Wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery. Running backs coach Tashard Choice. And as he jogged out to the huddle for the first play of the extra period, right tackle Penei Sewell.

“I told Penei, ‘Penei, we’re going your way. We’re going your way and we’re about to score, Jahmyr’s about to score this touchdown,’” St. Brown told the Free Press. “This was before the play call comes out. We get in the huddle, they call a regular play that we run all the time. Boom, touchdown. It was crazy.”

Gibbs had a monster day Sunday to rescue the Lions from the brink of disaster.

He caught a career-high 11 passes for 45 yards and a touchdown, added 15 carries for a career-high 219 yards and two scores, and broke a 69-yard run on the first play of overtime to lift the Lions to a 34-27 win over the hapless New York Giants at Ford Field.

“That dude’s as good as they come in our league,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said. “And he’s making his claim across the league as one of the best players, regardless of position, and we’re lucky to have him. I mean, he’s so electric and for him to be able to do that to supplement some of the struggles we were having was awesome.”

The Lions never led in regulation and trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quarter against the team with the worst record in the NFC but rallied for two scores in the final 10:50 of the fourth quarter to avoid a loss that might have been devastating to their playoff hopes.

WINDSOR: Jahmyr Gibbs just saved the Detroit Lions’ season

The Chicago Bears won their fourth straight game Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers and lead the NFC North with an 8-3 record, and the Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) beat the Minnesota Vikings for their second straight win to stay a half-game ahead of the Lions heading into next week’s Thanksgiving showdown.

The Lions (7-4) entered Sunday in eighth place in the NFC, just outside the final playoff spot, and spent most of the game chasing a Giants team with an interim head coach, starting a backup quarterback and down its best receiver and running back on offense.

Jameis Winston threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns and caught another score on an end-around pass from receiver Gunner Olszewski to give the Giants a 27-17 lead with 12:16 to play, before Gibbs sprang into action to save the Lions.

Gibbs broke three tackles on a 49-yard touchdown run with just under 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and after the Lions stopped the Giants on four goal-to-go plays with under 4 minutes to play, the Pro Bowl running back picked up three first downs on the Lions’ final possession of regulation to set up Jake Bates’ 59-yard game-tying field goal.

Gibbs caught a 13-yard pass on second-and-11 from the Lions’ 5-yard line, ran for a first down on third-and-1 just after the two-minute warning and had a 12-yard catch on second-and-10 from the Lions’ 47 to put the Lions in field-goal range.

“He’s a game changer,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s electric and when he found a crease he was going to the house. This was not about first downs and picking up a few yards. I mean, this guy’s going to the house and he’s got the juice to make it happen, he’s got vision. He’s a difference maker, so he was – I mean, he bailed us out today in a big way.”

Bates’ career-long field goal with 28 seconds left sent the game to overtime, and after the Giants won the overtime coin toss and elected to play defense, Gibbs delivered the knockout blow on a simple duo rushing play that’s been a staple of the Lions offense.

Right guard Tate Ratledge and center Graham Glasgow opened a rushing lane with a double-team block on defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris, Sewell erased linebacker Bobby Okereke with a block 5 yards downfield, and as Gibbs exploded through a hole and ran untouched to the second level, Sewell raised his arms to signal touchdown with Gibbs still 60 yards from the end zone.

“They brought pressure into the run,” Gibbs said. “Everybody did a great job picking it up like it was nothing and after that it was just (gone).”

The Giants drove into Lions territory on the ensuing possession, but Aidan Hutchinson sacked Winston on fourth-and-5 from the 27 to clinch the victory then sprinted down the field in celebration.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Campbell said. “We hung in there, we fought and we thought the next series was the one we were going to be the one that we were going to get the upper hand and we did. It’s not easy to hang in a game like that where there’s things that aren’t going perfect, but the end of the day, when we need it most, guys showed up.

“It wasn’t perfect, there are things to clean up certainly and came down to the wire, had to win in overtime, but I’ll take that win. That’s a good win.”