Houston Texans (6-4) – Detroit Lions (8-1): 23-26
The Lions can win almost any way, but this one is rather original: with Jared Goff throwing five interceptions! The Detroit quarterback had a hellish evening, but he also managed to bring his team back to victory at the end of the match, with three last possessions concluded with points.
The hero of the evening still remains Jake Bates, the kicker, who snatched the victory with a 52-yard kick at the last second.
The Texans will be able to regret for a long time a match that they had in hand, with the advantage 23-7 at the break. Except that they didn't score a single point in the second part of the match.
Jared Goff and the Lions in Hell
But what happened to Jared Goff (15/30, 240 yards, 2 TDs, 5 ints)? A model of precision in recent weeks, the quarterback sank in the first possession of this match, with an interception by Jimmie Ward on a deflected ball.
Goff seemed to recover quickly with a touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta (3 rec, 66 yards, 1 TD) to respond to the Texans' first ten points (10-7), but the worst was to come, with two new interceptions in the second quarter, including one, it is true, on a desperate pass at the end of the quarter.
But as John Metchie (5 rec, 74 yards, 1 TD) found the end zone, Detroit trailed 23-7 at half the game.
CJ Stroud and the Texans join the dance
The good news for Detroit is that the defense has woken up to maintain hope. In the third quarter, CJ Stroud (19/33, 232 yards, 1 TD, 2 int) was intercepted twice, and two other possessions ended with a punt. Same thing for the next two in the last quarter. The quarterback is not helped by a still porous line, a suffering ground game (2 yards/run) and the absences of Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins.
In the meantime, Goff finally raises his head… or almost. He throws two new balls into the opposing hands! But David Montgomery (12 races, 32 yards, 1 TD) scores a touchdown, and he finds Amon-Ra St. Brown (6 rec, 60 yards, 1 TD) to come back three lengths (23-20) with even more 11 minutes to play. It's miraculous, but Detroit is there with plenty of time on the clock.
Jake Bates scores a 58-yard kick for the equalizer five minutes from time (23-23). Ka'imi Fairbairn tries to answer him from the same distance, but it's to the left. There is 1mn51 left to play, and the Lions start from their 48 yards. It's unexpected. They don't go very far but eat up the clock. At 52 yards, Bates finds the target, very narrowly, and frees his team.
The last time a quarterback won a game by throwing 5 interceptions was Matt Ryan with the Falcons in 2012. But apparently the Lions can even afford those kinds of exploits this year.
