The Lions trailed 23-7 at the half, on the road against a first-place team. Their quarterback threw five interceptions. They came back and won all the same.
After Jake Bates drilled a 58-yard field goal to tie the game late in the fourth, the rookie kicker from just outside Houston snuck a 52-yarder inside the uprights as time expired to send the Lions to an almost impossible 26-23 victory from the Texans.
Detroit became the first team since 1970 to win a game in which it threw five picks and trailed by 15-plus points.
"When it's not your day and you can still win? That's a sign of a good team," said Dan Campbell.
Goff entered the day with four picks on the season, while completing an NFL-best 74.9 percent of his passes. He more than doubled his total in the picks column and completed just half his passes. When the Texans got the ball to start the second half, they had a win probability of 92.1 percent, according to ESPN. The Lions outscored them 19-0 the rest of the way.
"I honestly didn't feel like I was playing all that bad, said Goff. "I was seeing things well, I was throwing it well. Had some unfortunate things there early, but I've been through a whole lot worse than that. I've been to the bottom mentally, and some unlucky plays aren't going to throw me off my game."
For the Lions, it's their first win when throwing five interceptions in a game since Bobby Layne and Tom Dublinski teamed up for the dubious feat in a victory over the Packers in 1953. That year, the Lions went 10-2 and won the NFL championship.
This year, they're 8-1 for the first time since 1954.
"Every team gets punched in the mouth at some point, and the good ones respond," said Goff. "And we're one of those teams."
