Bates’ Field Goal as Time Expires Gives Lions 20–17 Win Over Packers

Jake Bates kicked a short field goal as the clock hit zero to give Detroit a 20–17 win over Green Bay at Ford Field, finishing a 71-yard drive in the final minutes after the Packers had tied the game late in the fourth quarter.

By Davies Daily Staff Reports · Sunday, October 25, 2026

DETROIT — Jake Bates kicked a field goal as time expired Sunday to give the Detroit Lions a 20–17 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field, snapping Green Bay’s three-game winning streak and moving Detroit ahead of the Packers in the NFC North.

The kick finished a 71-yard drive in the closing minutes. Green Bay had one more chance to win it after the Lions failed on fourth-and-1 from their own 24-yard line, but DJ Wonnum tipped Trey Smack’s 35-yard field-goal attempt and it missed wide right with 3:21 to play. Jared Goff then moved the Lions 71 yards in 10 plays: an 18-yard completion to Sam LaPorta — his only catch of the game, on a play that also drew a roughing-the-passer penalty — and a 15-yard run by Jahmyr Gibbs carried Detroit into range, and Gibbs picked up one more first down inside the final minute to let the Lions run the clock down to the last snap.

The accounts of the game differed on the distance of the winning kick. Reuters and Sportradar’s play-by-play both listed it as a 22-yard field goal. One Detroit Free Press live update listed it as 23 yards, though the Free Press’s own recap of the game also used 22 yards.

Goff completed 22 of 32 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jameson Williams. Williams caught five passes for 91 yards, scoring from 16 yards in the first quarter and from 10 yards in the third. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught nine passes for 153 yards, and Gibbs rushed for 116 yards on 29 carries.

Detroit scored first, needing only six plays to drive 80 yards for Williams’ 16-yard touchdown. Green Bay answered with a 12-play, 74-yard drive that Jordan Love finished with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft. The Packers came up empty on the game’s opening possession when Smack missed a 26-yard field goal wide right, and they failed on fourth-and-4 from the Detroit 7 in the second quarter. Bates added a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter, and Detroit led 10–7 at halftime — but the Lions had let points get away, as Gibbs lost a fumble at the Packers’ 8-yard line at the end of an 85-yard drive late in the half.

The lead changed hands early in the third quarter. Goff fumbled on the second play from scrimmage after halftime, Detroit’s second lost fumble in two possessions, and Green Bay cashed in: Love threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Josh Jacobs for a 14–10 lead, the Packers’ only lead of the game. Detroit answered on its next possession, Goff capping an 80-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Williams over the middle to retake the lead, 17–14.

Jacobs, activated off the NFL’s exempt list, made his season debut for Green Bay in the game. He rushed for 36 yards and caught five passes for 55 yards, including the 25-yard touchdown. Love finished with 274 passing yards and two touchdowns for the Packers (4–3).

Both coaches’ gambles shaped the fourth quarter. Lions coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth-and-5 from the Green Bay 6, but Goff’s pass for Williams fell incomplete, and Smack’s 43-yard field goal tied the game at 17–17 in the fourth quarter. Campbell later went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 24 and failed — but Wonnum’s tip of Smack’s 35-yard attempt gave Detroit the ball back with 3:21 left, and the Lions never gave it back.

The win was Detroit’s second straight and moved the Lions to 4–2, ahead of Green Bay for third place in the NFC North, the only division in the NFC with all four teams above .500. Minnesota (6–0) and Chicago (5–2) sit above them. Detroit hosts Minnesota next Sunday in a second straight division game.

Sources: Reuters (Field Level Media), the Detroit Free Press and Sportradar, October 25, 2026.