No matter what happens on Sunday night, the Detroit Lions will remain at the top of the NFC for another week. Even a loss to the Houston Texans would drop them to 7-2, where they hold the tiebreaker with the 7-2 Vikings (due to a head-to-head win) and the Eagles (conference record).

That said, the Lions don’t want to take first place on tiebreakers or technicalities. They want to earn it outright, and they would if they could beat the Texans on “Sunday Night Football” in Houston.

Detroit comes in as 3.5-point road favorites, but it won’t be a cakewalk against the 6-3 Texans. CJ Stroud is one of the most electric quarterbacks in football, and Houston’s defense is among the best in the NFL.

The Lions have gone against some of the best defenses in football lately and have beaten them all. However, they have a pretty significant hurdle to overcome this week: left tackle Taylor Decker is out with a shoulder injury. Now that the Texans possess one of the best pass rushes – although they lost Will Anderson Jr. will miss – Detroit’s front five will have their hands full.

Of course, let’s not forget that the Lions offense also gets Jameson Williams back this week, adding yet another dimension to Detroit’s high-powered offense. Will that be enough to get them to 8-1 on the season?

Follow along live here as we provide live score updates, drive-by-drive analysis, highlights and any injury news that may appear during the match. Refresh the page after the game starts at 8:20 PM ET to get the latest information.

First quarter

The Lions won the toss and wanted the ball first. The Lions started Dan Skipper on the left side, filling in for the injured Taylor Decker. They got an early third down conversion with a nifty shovel pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they quickly turned it around after a Jared Goff pass was deflected in the air and picked up by Texans Jimmie Ward.

The Lions quickly got the Texans to a third-and-10 thanks to some strong defense, but then CJ Stroud hit Tank Dell for 13 yards to convert and get to the red zone. Once again, the Lions defense showed up to force a third-and-16, but once again, the Lions pass defense was too soft and Stroud found John Metchie III for the conversion. Two plays later, Joe Mixon swept for an 8-yard touchdown. 7-0 Lions.

The Lions offense couldn’t get anything going on their second drive. After a deep shot attempt on Jameson Williams and a delay of the game penalty, the Lions faced a third-and-15 and Goff found Sam LaPorta well behind the sticks.

A short punt put the Texans at their own 44-yard line, and Houston would take advantage. Back-to-back completions for Dell set up a quick first for Houston. Then a well-timed screen against a Lions blitz took Mixon all the way to the 3-yard line for a 36-yard gain.

A holding penalty pushed the Texans back ten yards, and Detroit would hold on from there, forcing a 39-yard field goal on a James Houston sack on third down. 10-0 Texans.