The Detroit Lions’ statement to the rest of the NFL on Sunday night was unusual and unexpected. It was a strong statement nonetheless.
Jared Goff and the Lions played about as poorly as they could play, on the road against a first-place Houston Texans team, fell behind 23-7 by halftime and still won. If the Lions didn’t lose on Sunday night playing that poorly against a good Texans team, it’s going to be hard for anyone to beat them.
Goff threw five interceptions, more than doubling his season total, and the Lions overcame that to pull off a wild 26-23 victory against the Texans. Houston missed a long field goal inside of the two-minute warning, and the Lions completed an impressive, zany comeback on Jake Bates’ 52-field goal as time expired.
It was an ugly performance in many ways but it should make the Lions even more confident. That will probably be the worst game of the season for the Lions, and they still got a quality win. They’re 8-1 to start the season.
The Lions keep showing they can win games in different ways. Against the Texans, they showed that even a five-interception game by their quarterback won’t slow them down.
From early in the game the Lions looked off. They couldn’t get the run game going and the Texans had a lot of pressure on Goff. That was surprising given that the Lions have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and the Texans were without top pass rusher Will Anderson Jr.
Goff had been one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL but had three interceptions in the first half, the last coming on a Hail Mary. The Texans were setting for too many field goals, but got a huge touchdown just before halftime. John Metchie III, who missed his entire rookie season in 2022 due to leukemia, scored his first career touchdown on a 15-yard catch with 12 seconds left in the half. That gave Houston a 23-7 lead.
The second half started well for the Lions. Carlton Davis III picked off C.J. Stroud on the first play of the half, which head coach Dan Campbell seemed to speak into existence during a sideline interview during the game. But right after that Goff threw his fourth interception to Kamari Lassiter at Houston’s 1-yard line. It was that kind of night for Goff.
Goff wasn’t done. He threw his fifth interception of the game on a deep pass later in the third quarter. Goff had four interceptions in Detroit’s first eight games, and then five in less than three quarters against Houston.
Despite the fact that Goff had eight completions to Lions players and five to Texans players late in the third quarter, the Lions still weren’t completely out of the game as they trailed 23-13.
The Texans couldn’t put the Lions away. Detroit kept battling and a touchdown by Amon-Ra St. Brown cut Houston’s lead to 23-20 with more than 11 minutes left. It was hard to believe that a team whose quarterback threw five interceptions on the road in the first 37 minutes of game play could be within three touchdowns, much less three points.
A little while later it was tied. Bates hit a 58-yard field goal and it was 23-23 with a little more than five minutes remaining. It looked like the Texans were driving for a go-ahead field goal but the drive stalled and Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a 58-yard field goal. That gave the Lions great field position with 1:51 to go.
When Goff completed a big third-down pass to St. Brown, that put the Lions in field-goal range and the Texans had no timeouts left. Bates hit another clutch field goal and the Texans had a loss that will be hard to explain.
The Lions should have gotten blown out on Sunday night. But their defense kept them in the game, the offensive line settled down and Goff put his many mistakes behind him to make game-winning plays. A loss wouldn’t have been the end of the world for the Lions. A win under those circumstances further solidifies their status as a Super Bowl favorite.
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