Jake Bates answered Sunday with a clean kicking day when the Lions needed it most. He made his lone field-goal attempt and all four of his extra-point tries in the 31-30 overtime win over the Saints.
The field goal came from 23 yards, a short kick that still mattered in a one-point game. Bates had been searched more for questions than certainty after a rough preseason this summer and a subpar 2025 season, so a perfect outing in Week 1 gives Detroit something it did not always have from him a year ago: no missed points in a tight finish.
That mattered because last season Bates handled a heavy load in Detroit's high-powered offense, leading all NFL kickers in point-after attempts and makes. Volume helped him then, but it also meant every missed chance was easier to notice. His 2025 numbers tell the story of that uneven stretch as well: he finished 27 of 34 on field goals and 54 of 56 on PATs, a profile that leaves little room for a slow start if he is going to settle back into the role Detroit expects.
The contrast is what makes this week relevant beyond the final score. Bates showed he can still convert when the game is on the line, but the larger question is whether Sunday was a reset or just a sharp answer to one game in a season that already included preseason trouble. If his field-goal percentage moves back closer to 90 percent, he can reclaim the kind of trust that keeps a kicker useful in Detroit and valuable in fantasy lineups.
For now, the Lions got the simpler part of the equation: five kicks, five makes, and no drama from Bates in a win that came down to the last point.
