5 winners, 3 losers from the Lions’ COMEBACK win against the Texans

5 winners showed up for the Lions in the comeback win against the Texans. While those five people can walk away on cloud nine, three others will have a long week on the practice field and in the film room.

After waiting all day for Sunday night, the Detroit Lions finally took the field to play the Houston Texans in primetime. It was a sloppy game where turnovers were happening left and right. Both teams couldn’t keep the bal,l and just when one team would turn it over, the other team was kind enough to give the ball right back to them as a favor. Detroit was down 23-7 at halftime and despite being down by 16, didn’t flinch, didn’t budge, and fought back to win the game 26-23, shutting out Houston in the second half. This was the worst game I have seen this team play, and they STILL walked away with a victory.

Check out my winners and losers in the comeback 26-23 win against the Texans.

Winners

Jake Bates

Entering the season, kicker Jake Bates faced plenty of criticism despite being the starter. He missed kicks in practice and the preseason. After he missed an extra point earlier this season, people questioned if he really could be the kicker Detroit needed. Bates has made some clutch kicks already this season, but against Houston on Sunday night, Bates made not one, but two huge kicks.

Bates barely made a 58-yard field goal to tie the game at 23 as the ball glided just against the right side of the goalpost. After the Lions made a defensive stand, Bates made a 52-yard field goal as time expired, winning the game for the Lions. If you didn’t believe in Bates before this game, you certainly can believe in him now.

Alim McNeill

When the Texans tried to run the football near Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill, it wasn’t working. Texans running back Joe Mixon had only 25 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown, averaging just 1.8 yards a carry. McNeill was a big part of the Texans’ run game struggles, as he pushed through the weak interior offensive line and got to Mixon to slow him down. If it wasn’t McNeill getting to him first, he was finishing the play or disrupting Mixon from going elsewhere.

McNeill wasn’t just stopping the run either, he got a sack on Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. McNeill ended with six tackles, two tackles for loss, and the lone sack. He is playing like an All-Pro defensive tackle and is a big reason why the Lions were able to win this game.

Carlton Davis

This was the best game I have seen by cornerback Carlton Davis in a Lions uniform. He has had an average season in Detroit so far, making a few helpful plays and some mistakes, but Sunday night he made a lot of big plays. At the start of the second half, down 23-7, on the first play of the half, Davis jumped the route and got a huge interception to give Detroit possession at the Texans 31-yard line.

Davis wasn’t done with just that one interception. He made another huge interception in the third quarter as Houston’s wide receiver Tank Dell was wide open in the end zone and Davis ran over to snag the ball out of the air and kill the Texans’ drive. Davis was a playmaker overall on the night, finishing with four tackles, two pass deflections, and two interceptions. If he can continue to make plays like that, the Lions would be smart to keep him around for an extension.

Sam LaPorta

With the offense struggling to move the ball down the field, one player that stood out was Lions tight end Sam LaPorta. The Lions tight end has had a quiet season after exploding in his rookie season last year. You can’t say it’s a sophomore slump because he hasn’t been struggling to catch the ball or get open, the playcalling just hasn’t been in his favor as the main target. Against the Texans, though, when the Lions needed a big play, LaPorta was able to rise to the occasion.

LaPorta ended the game with three catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. It’s nice that when the running game can’t get going and the wide receivers aren’et getting open, LaPorta can elevate his game and become the playmaker the Lions had last season. Unfortunately, LaPorta’s day ended early with a shoulder injury, but it appears he avoided a serious injury.

Brian Branch

Returning after his ejection in the Packers game, safety Brian Branch made a huge impact in Houston. He helped stop the run and force the Texans to throw the ball through the air. When Houston threw the ball, Branch made some plays to disrupt the ball and forced incompletions. Branch was everywhere on the field where you needed him to be.

Branch ended with a team-high 10 tackles, two pass deflections, and a tackle for loss. He was missed in the rest of the Packers game, but the team survived without him. This game was a good showcase of what he brings to this team overall. He doesn’t just stand out in secondary or run defense, he can do it all. While he didn’t create a turnover tonight, he still had an impact on disrupting plays and forcing players to change up what they were doing when going against him.

Losers

Offensive line

With the Lions down left tackle Taylor Decker, they brought in Dan Skipper to replace him, and he struggled throughout the night. He constantly allowed pressure and didn’t seem to get the advantage on a defensive player. He wasn’t alone in those struggles, as even the great right tackle Penei Sewell had possibly the worst game of his career. Sewell was getting the edge beat on him and making it rough for the passing game to be effective.

While the tackles struggled to help the passing game work, the interior couldn’t figure out what to do running the football. The Lions are known to run the ball down opponents’ throats and this week they struggled to do so. Overall, the Lions ran 32 times for 105 yards with one touchdown, finishing the game just averaging 3.3 yards per carry. Decker being out wasn’t the main reason for this poor showing, it was just a bad day at the office for that group.

Terrion Arnold

After a few weeks where rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold appeared to be improving with his coverage and lack of penalties, he reverted to his old ways on Sunday. First, Arnold didn’t turn his head, running into the Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson and was called for a 41-yard pass interference. As the half was ending, the Texans found wide receiver John Metchie III open for a touchdown and Houston expanded their lead to 16, making it a 23-7 score at halftime.

The season is halfway over and Arnold hasn’t seemed to improve overall as a player. He’s still making rookie mistakes, and some of these mistakes are things that he should be improving upon by now, not still making. Cornerback is the toughest position to learn as a rookie, but something needs to change. Hopefully, he can figure it out in the back half of the season; if not, his second year in 2025 must improve.

That said, Arnold did get a pass breakup late in the game that forced Houston’s long field goal attempt that was missed. But, admittedly, he was a little lucky not to have been called for pass interference again.

Jared Goff

Welp, I think the talks for quarterback Jared Goff to win the MVP can be put to bed after this game. The offensive line didn’t make his job easier as he was under duress throughout the game, forcing him to make mistakes with a career-high five interceptions. Not all of the interceptions were on Goff. At least one was due to pressure, another was an unfortunate tipped pass, and another was a Hail Mary. The rest of them, though, were just throws that Goff doesn’t make and left me scratching my head at what he was looking at.

Goff finished the game going 15-for-30 for 240 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions. He reminded me of the old Goff who crumbled under pressure and panicked when his back was up against the wall. He was also uncharacteristically greedy, pushing the ball unnecessarily downfield when he had options in front of him. I don’t know why Goff felt the need to risk passes that weren’t there, and it wasn’t like the team was racing against the clock.

I believe Goff will learn from his mistakes and move on from this game. He isn’t a big risk-taker and this offense isn’t known to chuck it deep constantly. It’s a ground-and-pound, run the ball down your throat attack. In the first three quarters, it felt like Goff threw that idea away and wanted to play hero ball, until he realized he couldn’t (and shouldn’t).