These Detroit Lions are something else. The notion of five interceptions is not something that most teams come back from. That number of turnovers from a quarterback instills thoughts of Nathan Peterman, not comeback victories.
Yet the Lions bucked the trend against the Houston Texans, narrowly escaping what would have been a tough loss to swallow. Instead, it is one of the more inspirational wins of the Dan Campbell era. How many teams would have folded under such circumstances? With Campbell at the helm and every single player buying into him, there is no quit in these Lions.
With a lot to process from this absurd comeback win, let’s try to break down some takeaways.
From selling bricks to making kicks
The legacy of Jake Bates grows.
In 2023, Bates was selling bricks in his hometown of Houston. The college kickoff specialist with no field goal attempts to his name went undrafted in 2023. He was signed by the local Houston Texans for a total of two weeks before being released. On Christmas day, he signed a contract with the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League. It was a holiday present for both Bates and the state of Michigan. Bates would go on to kick multiple booming kicks, his longest coming from 64 yards away to win a game. Those kicks garnered NFL interest for the young kicker, and he wound up staying in his new home of Detroit.
Safe to say that Detroit will be his home for awhile.
Bates cemented himself in Lions lore, against his former team no less. He nailed a 58-yard attempt to tie the improbable comeback. In the dying seconds of the game, he hit a 52 yarder to seal the improbable comeback. Bates made both kicks by inches combined, but they squeaked through nonetheless.
The Lions have their kicker for the future. He has ice in his veins.
Lose the turnover battle, win the war
The Lions had been excellent at minimizing turnovers on offense while piling on the defensive takeaways. While the defense held up their end of the bargain, the offense floundered and it wound up nearly sinking the Lions. Jared Goff accounted for five interceptions against the Texans, and though two of them were tipped and one of them was an end-of-half Hail Mary, it nonetheless paints a clear picture: they could not protect the football.
The defense added a pair of interceptions (the first that hilariously happened seconds after Dan Campbell asked for a turnover), but the ensuing drives would end with Goff’s fourth and fifth interceptions, rendering the plays largely moot. Goff managed to control the turnover monster as the game wound down, but it was still a position the Lions rarely found themselves in: losing the game and losing the turnover battle.
Thanks to a comeback of historic proportions, the Lions are leaving Houston with a win on their schedule, but it was as close as could be. A game like this needs to be an outlier—and a serious one at that—so they can avoid similar dangerous scenarios.
Props to Carlton Davis for his two stellar interceptions, the first for any cornerback on the team. The Lions do not win this game without him.
Taylor Decker, MVP?
Replacing a dependable veteran like Taylor Decker was never going to be an easy ask—many teams struggle to field capable starting tackles, let alone backups. Yet the subtraction of Decker for Dan Skipper seemingly derailed every aspect of the Lions offensive line.
Goff was facing unrelenting pressure throughout the night, leading to by far his worst performance of the season. Penei Sewell in particular had rough outing as a pass blocker, an abnormality for the All-Pro. The run game was nonexistent as well, with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery each rushing below their season standards. For a team centered around a dominant run game, their inability to establish a ground-and-pound game plan led to a stunted offensive showing.
With the health of Decker still up in the air for next week, the Lions might have to dip into their depth chart with Skipper yet again. The team lives and dies by their offensive line, and they cannot afford more down performances like these. That being said, keep using Sewell as a blocker on screens—he is a terror to defensive backs.
Return of the run defense
After starting the year on a high note, the Lions run defense had faltered of late. The injuries to Aidan Hutchinson and Derrick Barnes were key reasons why. Detroit allowed 93 yards by Aaron Jones in Week 7, 94 yards to Tony Pollard in Week 8, and 95 yards to Josh Jacobs in Week 9. No running back has topped 100 yards so far this season, but it has nonetheless been efficient running against Detroit’s defense in recent weeks. Those three backs likely would have hit the 100-yard mark if their teams were not trailing.
There was no such feat for Joe Mixon and the Texans run game. Mixon was stonewalled all night on the ground, finishing the game with just 25 carries for 46 yards—a paltry 1.8 yard per attempt average. The personnel for the Lions was largely the same as last week, with Alim McNeill and DJ Reader doing a lot of the heavy lifting up the middle. The difference likely comes from their discipline on the edge. In previous weeks, teams had success bouncing the ball outside against the Lions defense. This time around, the defensive ends and linebackers maintained their lanes and made sure to wrap up the Texans ball carrier.
Sure, the Texans offensive line, already a subpar unit, was banged up, but that should not detract from the progress that the Lions defensive front made.
A defensive shutdown
Adding on the improved run defense, the defense itself kept the Lions alive in wake of Goff’s five-interception night.
Davis had his aforementioned two interceptions. McNeill was yet again a terror for opposing linemen, notching himself a sack. Josh Paschal was dominant in run defense, while also getting in on the sack parade. James Houston and Pat O’Connor, two players fighting for snaps and trying to make an impact, also recorded sacks. After allowing 23 points in the first half, the defense shut the door on a Texans offense that was humming. Houston scored zero points the rest of the way, enabling a Lions comeback.
The Lions defense had no answer for John Metchie or Tank Dell early on, but both receivers fell silence in the second half. The Texans pivoted to running the ball, but thanks to an improved run defense, Houston was left in more third-and-long situations. Whereas they were converting those downs in the first half, the second half proved less fruitful for the Texans offense.
Despite the loss of many critical players, the defense is still playing at an elite level. They are keeping the team in games when the offense falters. When both the offense and defense are working, we end up with situations like the Dallas Cowboys blowout win. Aaron Glenn took flak in recent years from defensive struggles, but something is clearly clicking this season. The pieces are in place for his defense to play shutdown football.
Best of all, they still have Za’Darius Smith coming soon.
Jamo displays some tough grabs and toughness
Jameson Williams finished with a mere three receptions in his return from suspension, but those catches reflected the growth he has had in his third year. He double-clutched a reception, maintaining his concentration and securing it before being throttled by a Texans defender. Later in the game, Williams caught a duck from Goff before again getting crumpled by a pair of Texans.
Two of the bigger question marks for Jameson Williams were his hands and his physicality, and he is demonstrating how those aspects of his game have improved. Williams was the target on one of Goff’s interceptions, but it was more of an underthrow from Goff than a misplay from Williams. With a little more air on the ball, Williams catches it in stride and maybe takes it to the house.
Williams will not always dominate the stat sheet, but there is no question that he is a big part of the offense when he is on the field. Perhaps there is some off-the-field growth to be had, but his on-field growth is certainly encouraging.
Leave a Reply