DETROIT — Jake Bates didn’t quite know the distance until he made his way onto the field.
Then the Detroit Lions kicker started sizing things up. He was 59 yards away from the goal post, meaning it’d take a career-best kick to force overtime. On the line? If Bates missed, the Lions (7-4) would lose consecutive games for the first time since 2022 and, more importantly, drop further behind the Chicago Bears (8-3) and Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) in the NFC North.
As Bates jogged out near midfield, he recited the Bible verse Hebrews 12:1, a habit he’s had since he was a standout for the United Football League’s Michigan Panthers. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,” the verse reads. “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Bates connected on the 59-yarder, sending Sunday’s eventual win over the New York Giants to overtime.
“I think that’s something that helps me calm down and put it into perspective, like, the moment, and how lucky I am to be here,” Bates said of his routine. “Not worrying about the time of the game or the distance or whatever. Just dealing with what’s before me, and what the Lord’s put before me.”
Bates is now 15-for-19 on the season, with his misses coming from 45, 54, 55 and 67 yards out.
His make against the Giants didn’t come without suspense. Bates was lined up on the left hash and the ball pushed hard right immediately off his foot. It hooked back toward the left as it approached the goal post, and it got over the crossbar with only a couple yards to spare.
“I’ve never seen a football do that,” Tate Ratledge said. “It started off right, and I was like, ‘Oh, s***. Here we go.’ The Giants are celebrating and I’m walking off the field and I kind of look back up and saw it peeled back in. I was like, ‘What in the world?’ That was pretty cool.”
Bates’ efforts were one part of a bounceback performance for Detroit’s special teams. Jack Fox averaged 40 yards per attempt on five punts, and he forced the Giants to start four drives inside their own 10-yard line. Kalif Raymond also chose a good time to have his best kick return of the season, running for 44 yards to put Bates in position to knock through a 34-yarder before halftime.
“To have all that come together today was awesome to see,” Bates said. “Jack killed it.”
For his career, Bates is 5-for-5 on field goals to either tie or win the game with under a minute remaining.
“I think just not making the moment bigger than it needs to be keeps me calm a little bit,” he said. “I also don’t find my identity in these moments. My identity is secure in the Lord and who he says I am. This is something I get to do, I don’t have to do, and I’m so happy to do it.
“Really, I think it comes down to that. Just having fun.”