Jake Bates' game-winning field goal highlights rise from brick salesman to Lions star

Few knew what to expect from Jake Bates when the Detroit Lions signed him to be their kicker during the 2024 NFL offseason.

Bates was coming off a successful season kicking for the UFL's Michigan Panthers, but it marked the first time that he had kicked field goals since high school. He was a soccer player by trade and had been a brick salesman in the Houston area before the UFL came calling to give him a chance at kicking professionally.

Ten weeks into his first NFL season, there is little reason to doubt that Bates belongs in the NFL. He added another chapter to his improbable story on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 10 against the Houston Texans.

NFL WEEK 10 WINNERS, LOSERS: Cowboys' season can no longer be saved

Jake Bates' game-winning field goal

The Lions called upon Bates at the end of regulation to attempt a game-winning 52-yard field goal. If Bates converted the kick, it would be his second make from 50-plus yards during the final five minutes of the game and would cap off a 16-point, come-from-behind win for Detroit.

That the attempt was from 52 yards was something of a surprise. The Lions had time remaining to try to get closer to the uprights, but coach Dan Campbell opted not to play too aggressively. He ran down the clock and set Bates up for the game-winning effort, which Campbell believed his first-year kicker would make.

"It was the first thing I thought of when I was looking at him … and I just felt good about it," Campbell told Lions.com. "I just felt like he's going to make it."

Bates rewarded Campbell's faith. Although his attempt wasn't his most accurate, he placed it just far enough inside the left upright to give Detroit the victory.

Naturally, the Lions were elated by Bates's performance. After the contest, his teammates carried him around on their shoulders, and Campbell awarded him a game ball for his winning kick.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Bates acknowledged after making the kick that the moment was almost "too good to be true. "

"I just don't deserve this," Bates said, per Lions.com. "I was a soccer player growing up. I idolized football players in the NFL. Just to be here is surreal. I'm still finding myself kind of pinching myself."

Bates won't have to pinch himself much longer. He has already established himself as one of the best and most accurate kickers in the league early in his first NFL season.

Jake Bates stats

Bates is now a perfect 14-of-14 on field goal attempts to begin the 2024 NFL season. He still has a long way to go to match fellow spring-league alumnus Brandon Aubrey's streak of 35 consecutive makes to begin a career, but Bates is the only kicker with 10-plus field goal attempts to still be perfect on the season.

Bates has missed an extra point, but just one. He is 32-of-33 on those kicks thus far.

LONGEST FIELD GOALS: Brandon Aubrey longest field goal: Where Cowboys kicker ranks on all-time list

Jake Bates longest field goal

The longest field goal of Bates' career is the 58-yarder he made during the Lions' Week 10 win over the Texans. He snuck the game-tying attempt just inside the right upright to give him a new record-long.

Bates has now made three field goals from 50-plus yards during his career. Two of those came in Detroit's comeback win over Houston.

The Lions will host the Jaguars in Week 11.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jake Bates' game-winning field goal highlights wild comeback story