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.”