FIRST DOWN: BATES DOES IT AGAIN
Lions head coach Dan Campbell works a lot of different situations in practice, and it just so happens that during Thursday’s practice this week he worked an end-of-game scenario that was similar to what ended up playing out Sunday night in Detroit’s 26-23 come-from-behind win in Houston.
A Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown pass set up the Lions at the 43-yard line at the end of practice Thursday and Bates ended up kicking a 60-yard field goal outside into the wind.
That’s how it played out in the game Sunday night against the Texans with the offense trying to put Bates in position to win late. A Goff to St. Brown pass gave the Lions a first down at the Houston 37-yard line. The offense got three more yards to the 34-yard line and whittled the clock down to four seconds as Bates came out for a 52-yarder to win it.
Bates nailed it to send the Lions’ sideline sprinting out after him as they pushed their win streak to seven games and remain atop the NFC with an 8-1 record.
“I’ve never been hoisted like that,” Bates said in the locker room after the game of his teammates carrying him around on their shoulders. “That was pretty cool just to see the sidelines come to embrace me and stuff was a cool moment.”
Bates has been a great story this year going from brick salesman 18 months ago to twice the hero for the Lions with two walk-off field goals. Sunday night’s winner allowed him to stay perfect kicking field goals this season at 14-for-14.
“I just don’t deserve this,” Bates said. “I was a soccer player growing up. I idolized football players in the NFL. Just to be here is surreal. I’m still finding myself kind of pinching myself.”
Bates also made a career-long 58-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to tie the game.
“It was the first thing I thought of when I was looking at him … and I just felt good about it,” Campbell said of thinking back to Thursday’s practice before sending Bates out Sunday night. “I just felt like he’s going to make it and he did. He stepped up and nailed it.”
SECOND DOWN: DEFENSIVE EFFORT
Four punts. Two interceptions. One missed field goal.
That was the possession chart for the Houston Texans in the second half Sunday night after leading 23-7 at the half.
“At halftime AG (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) came up to us and he had a heartfelt message for us to play our game,” said cornerback Carlton Davis III, who had both of those critical second-half interceptions for the Lions. “Go out there and just put it all on the line.”
That’s exactly what the Lions’ defense did. Their play, especially in the second half, is the big reason why Detroit’s started a season 8-1 for the first time since 1954.
They held the Texans to 6-for-15 on third down, allowed 56 yards rushing on 28 attempts (2.0 avg.), produced four sacks and those two big interceptions.
“If we don’t play defense like that we don’t win the game,” Campbell said afterward. “We did what we had to do offensively at the end of the game, we found our way and were able to get in position to score some points, but without the defense, five turnovers is hard.”
The defense was put in some tough situations all night due to those five turnovers by the offense, but they didn’t bat an eye and when they needed to step up late to help secure the win, that’s exactly what they did.
THIRD DOWN: HANGING IN THERE
The box score reads five interceptions for Goff, but that doesn’t tell the entire story.
One of those was a Hail Mary at the end of the half. Two others came when he was hit right as he was delivering the football. Another came when he and wide receiver Jameson Williams weren’t on the same page on the angle of a deep route. And the other was a good ball tight end Sam LaPorta didn’t turn his head around in time for before the defender.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing all that bad,” Goff said after the game of the five interceptions. “I was seeing it well. Tipped balls. Ultimately, I have to take care of the ball, but they were making some good plays and some things weren’t going our way. I think ultimately, I never lost confidence because I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to do on most of those plays.”
Goff also threw two touchdown passes and made some key throws late to put the Lions in a position to win the game as all three phases came together late to mount the comeback and get the win.
Goff finished 15-of-30 passing for 240 yards with two touchdowns and those five picks, but most importantly he led a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback, his 10th fourth-quarter comeback with the Lions and his 11th game-winning drive with the team.
FOURTH DOWN: WIN STREAK
Detroit has now won their seventh straight game, tying the single-season franchise record set in 1995. They’ve won their fifth straight road game, establishing a single-season record-long streak and they did it during a brutal stretch that included four of their last five on the road with matchups against playoff teams Minnesota, Green Bay and Houston.
“It’s letting us know a lot about us as a team,” Davis said of this current seven-game win streak. “Being able to go on the road against tough opponents. The best opponents in the league right now, in my opinion, and getting the W in their home stadium is huge for us. It’s a huge confidence boost.”
Detroit now has four of their next five games in the friendly confines of Ford Field and their next three — vs. Jacksonville, at Indianapolis and vs. Chicago — against teams with records under .500.
