These Detroit Lions are something else. The idea of ​​five interceptions isn’t something most teams will come back from. That number of quarterback turnovers is reminiscent of Nathan Peterman, not comeback wins.

Still, the Lions bucked the trend against the Houston Texans and narrowly escaped what would have been a tough loss to swallow. Instead, it’s one of the more inspiring victories of the Dan Campbell era. How many teams would have folded under such circumstances? With Campbell at the helm and every player believing in him, there is no stopping these Lions.

Now that there is still a lot to process after this absurd comeback victory, we try to put a few things in order.

From selling bricks to making kicks

Jake Bates’ legacy is growing.

In 2023, Bates was selling bricks in his hometown of Houston. The university’s kickoff specialist with no field goal attempts to his name was 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 Christmas present for both Bates and the state of Michigan. Bates would go on to kick multiple booming kicks, his longest coming from 64 yards out to win a game. Those kicks sparked NFL interest in the young kicker, and he ended up staying in his new home of Detroit.

It’s safe to say that Detroit will be his home for a while.

Bates cemented himself in Lions lore, against his former team no less. He scored a 58-yard try to tie the improbable comeback. In the final seconds of the match he hit a 52-yarder to seal the unlikely comeback. Bates connected both kicks inch by inch, but they still squeaked through.

The Lions have their kicker for the future. He has ice in his veins.

Lose the revenue battle, win the war

The Lions were excellent at minimizing turnovers on offense while piling up the defensive takeaways. While the defense held up its end of the bargain, the offense misfired and nearly ended up sinking the Lions. Jared Goff was responsible for five interceptions against the Texans, and even though two of them were tipped and one of them was a Hail Mary at the end of the half, it still paints a clear picture: they couldn’t protect the football.

The defense added a pair of interceptions (the first hilariously coming seconds after Dan Campbell called for a turnover), but the ensuing drives would end with Goff’s fourth and fifth interceptions, leaving the plays largely moot. Goff managed to keep the turnover monster in check as the game came to a close, 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 leave Houston with a win in hand, but it was as close as it could get. A game like this needs to be an outlier – and a serious one at that – so they can avoid similarly dangerous scenarios.

Props to Carlton Davis for his two great interceptions, the first for a cornerback on the team. The Lions won’t win this game without him.

Taylor Decker, MVP?

Replacing a reliable veteran like Taylor Decker was never going to be an easy task; many teams have trouble landing capable starting tackles, let alone backups. Still, pulling Decker for Dan Skipper derailed seemingly every aspect of the Lions’ offensive line.

Goff faced relentless pressure all night, leading to by far his worst performance of the season. Penei Sewell in particular had a rough outing as a pass blocker, an anomaly for the All-Pro. The run game was also non-existent, with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery each rushing below their season norms. For a team that focused on a dominant run game, their inability to establish a ground-and-pound game plan led to a stunted offensive display.

With Decker’s health still up in the air next week, the Lions may have to dip into their depth chart again with Skipper. The team lives and dies by their offensive line, and they can’t afford more of these types of down performances. That said, continue to use 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’ defense has faltered of late. The injuries to Aidan Hutchinson and Derrick Barnes were the main reasons for this. Detroit allowed 93 yards to 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 was nonetheless efficient against Detroit’s defense in recent weeks. Those three backs probably would have reached the 100-yard mark if their teams weren’t trailing.

There was no such feat for Joe Mixon and the Texans run game. Mixon was held back on the ground all night and finished the game with just 25 carries for 46 yards – a paltry 1.8 yards per attempt average. The personnel for the Lions was largely the same as last week, with Alim McNeill and DJ Reader doing much of the heavy lifting in the middle. The difference probably stems from their borderline discipline. In previous weeks, teams had success bouncing the ball outside against the Lions defense. This time, the defensive ends and linebackers maintained their lanes and made sure to wrap up the Texans ball carrier.

Sure, the Texans’ offensive line, already an undersized unit, was blown up, but that shouldn’t detract from the progress the Lions’ defensive front made.

A defensive shutdown

In addition to the improved run defense, the defense itself kept the Lions alive in the aftermath of Goff’s five-interception night.

Davis had the aforementioned two interceptions. McNeill once again was a terror to opposing linemen, earning himself a sack in the process. Josh Paschal was dominant in the run defense while also participating in 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 closed the door on a Texans offense that was buzzing. Houston scored zero points the rest of the game, allowing a Lions comeback.

The Lions defense had no answer early on for John Metchie or Tank Dell, but both receivers fell silent in the second half. The Texans pivoted to run the ball, but an improved run defense left Houston in more third-and-long situations. While they were converting those downs in the first half, the second half proved less fruitful for the Texans offense.

Despite losing many crucial players, the defense is still playing at an elite level. They keep the team in the game when the offense falters. When both the offense and defense work, we end up with situations like the Dallas Cowboys win. Aaron Glenn has suffered from defensive issues in recent years, but something is clearly right this season. The pieces are in place for his defense to play shutdown football.

Best of all, they’ll soon have Za’Darius Smith.

Jamo exhibits some hard grips and toughness

Jameson Williams finished with just three receptions in his return from suspension, but those catches reflected the growth he has experienced in his third year. He pulled off a double reception, keeping his focus and securing it before being smothered by a Texans defender. Later in the game, Williams caught a duck from Goff before getting clobbered again by a pair of Texans.

Two of the bigger question marks for Jameson Williams have been his hands and his physicality, and he shows how those aspects of his game have improved. Williams was the target on one of Goff’s interceptions, but it was more of a throwdown by Goff than a misplay by Williams. With a little more air on the ball, Williams catches it on the foot and perhaps takes it home.

Williams won’t always dominate the stat sheet, but there’s no doubt he’s a big part of the offense when he’s on the field. Perhaps some off-field growth is possible, but his on-field growth is certainly encouraging.