HOUSTON – Talk about a resilient bunch.
Despite trailing 23-7 at halftime and quarterback Jared Goff throwing a career-high five interceptions, the Detroit Lions continued to fight and claw, and in the end they came away with one of the more improbable wins you’ll see.
Kicker Jake Bates hit a 52-yard walk-off field goal to give the Lions a 26-23 come-from-behind road victory over the Houston Texans that improves their record to 8-1 on the year.
Detroit’s defense deserves a ton of credit for the win, posting a shutout in the second half to give them a chance. They were put in some bad positions by the offense because of turnovers and did a great job all night keeping the Lions in it. Two second-half interceptions by cornerback Carlton Davis III were huge.
Detroit trimmed the Texans’ lead to 23-20 late on an Amon-Ra St. Brown 9-yard touchdown catch from Goff. Detroit made it 23-23 with five minutes remaining on a Bates 58-yard field goal, the longest of his career.
Houston had a chance with under two minutes remaining to take the lead with a 58-yard field goal of their own, but Ka’imi Fairbairn missed it.
That set up Bates to win it with a 52-yarder as time expired to stay perfect on the season kicking field goals.
This was definitely a tale of two halves, as follows:
The Texans got on the board first following Goff’s first interception since Week 3 in Arizona on Detroit’s opening drive of the game. Goff’s short pass intended for Jahmyr Gibbs was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by safety Jimmie Ward at the Lions’ 35 yard line. Running back Joe Mixon punched it into the end zone eight plays later on an 8-yard run to give the Texans a 7-0 lead.
After a 34-yard Fairbairn field goal gave the Texans a 10-0 lead, Detroit found the end zone early in the second quarter on a 20-yard pass from Goff to tight end Sam LaPorta. It was Goff’s 200th career touchdown pass and trimmed the Houston lead to 10-7.
Fairbairn made it 13-7 midway through the second quarter with a 56-yard field goal.
On the next Lions possession, right tackle Penei Sewell was beaten by edge rusher Denico Autry and hit Goff right as he was throwing the football. The ball popped up, was tipped a couple times and landed right in the hands of linebacker Henry To’oTo’o at the Lions’ 36-yard line. That led to another Fairbairn field goal and a 16-7 Texans’ lead late in the second quarter.
Houston played the end of the first half brilliantly forcing a Lions punt with just over one minute left in the second quarter. Houston took over at their own 34-yard line with 54 seconds left and marched 66 yards in just six plays to increase their lead to 23-7 right before the half on a 15-yard John Metchie III touchdown grab from Stroud. A Goff Hail Mary try was intercepted to end the first half.
Detroit’s defense opened the second half with an interception from Davis, giving the offense great field position at the Houston 31-yard line, but three plays later, Goff threw his fourth interception of the contest to Houston cornerback Kamari Lassiter at the 1-yard line.
Goff and the offense got the ball back with good field position following a three-and-out by Houston’s offense after the Lassiter interception.
Detroit trimmed the lead to 23-13 on a 3-yard David Montgomery touchdown run set up by a 37-yard LaPorta catch the play prior. Detroit failed to convert the two-point try following the touchdown.
Davis recorded his second interception of the game on the following Texans drive, but Goff threw an interception on Detroit’s subsequent drive.
The St. Brown touchdown and two huge kicks from Bates wrapped the scoring and the win for the Lions.
QB comparison: Goff finished 15-of-30 passing for 240 yards with two touchdowns, five interceptions and a passer rating of 59.7
Stroud completed 19 of his 33 pass attempts for 232 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a 64.2 rating. The Lions’ defense sacked him four times.
Big moment: Facing a 3rd & 6 at the Houston 48-yard line with one minute, 40 seconds left, Goff found St. Brown for an 11-yard gain to the Houston 37-yard line that gave Bates the chance to win it at the end.
Key stat: Detroit’s defense made some huge stops on third down to get off the field, especially in the second half. Houston was just 6-for-15 on third down in the game. Detroit came in ranked No. 1 on third down (29.9 percent). It was a huge reason why Detroit’s defense allowed zero points in the second half.
Injury report: LaPorta left the game early in the second half with a shoulder injury and did not return.
Up next: vs. Jacksonville (2-8), Nov. 17, 1 p.m.
