The Detroit Lions won their Thursday Night Football matchup against the Green Bay Packers in familiar fashion as kicker Jake Bates, the former brick salesman from the Houston, Texas area, stepped up to the plate and kicked an eventual game-winning field goal through the uprights at Ford Field.
The Bates kick put an exclamation point on one of the biggest wins of the season for the 12-1 Detroit Lions as they continued their quest for the number one seed in the NFC.
Detroit will next welcome Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills to town for a showdown next Sunday that could be coach Dan Campbell’s team’s toughest remaining test of the 2024-2025 regular season.
Following the game, Bates had a message for his teammates amid a locker room celebration.
“All the stats you need is, he won the freakin’ game again,” Campbell said prior to tossing a game ball to the Lions kicker. “Jake Bates.”
Bates was brief as he addressed the team sandwiched between short speeches from Tim Patrick, who also received a game ball, and Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
“Hey. Hey, I freakin’ love you guys, man, let’s get thirteen next week,” Bates, who last played with the USFL’s Michigan Panthers, said.
The Lions will play the Bills at 4:25 p.m. ET at Ford Field next week, hoping to get revenge for a 2022 thriller that was won 28-25 by Allen and the Bills.
