Jake Bates Kicks Four Field Goals as the Lions Beat the Dolphins 19-9 for a Fourth Straight Win

Jack Campbell was not in uniform on Sunday, but his number was all over Hard Rock Stadium. Lions players, Derrick Barnes among them, arrived in his No. 46 jersey, "Campbell Strong" signs dotted the stands, and the message in the locker room was not complicated. "A lot of what we said was man, let's win No. 6 for 46," Dan Campbell said afterward.

Mission accomplished, though nobody will be framing the film. The Detroit Lions beat the Miami Dolphins 19-9, leaning on four Jake Bates field goals, one Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown and a defense that never let Miami into the end zone. Detroit is 6-2 and has won four straight. Miami falls to 1-7 and 0-4 at home.

It was Detroit's first game without its leading tackler, who went on injured reserve this week with the neck injury he suffered in last Sunday's win over Minnesota.

Three Points at a Time

Nothing came easy for an offense Jeff Hafley called the most explosive in the league. Detroit's opening drive ate 6:36 of clock and still stalled after a Josh Uche sack, so Bates settled for a 28-yarder. On the next series, Uche got to Jared Goff mid-throw, the ball fluttered, and rookie cornerback Chris Johnson came down with the first interception of his career. Goff had thrown one pick all season before Sunday. The defense held Miami to a Zane Gonzalez 34-yard field goal, and it was 3-3.

The Lions' offensive line had a rough afternoon. Christian Mahogany did not start at left guard, a coaching decision Campbell attributed to team rules, and Miles Frazier made his first career start in his place. Miami sacked Goff three times in the first half. Bates put Detroit back in front with a 40-yarder just before the break, and Gonzalez's try to tie it on the final play of the half bounced off the right upright. The Lions took a 6-3 lead into the locker room.

In the third quarter, Chuck Clark jumped a Malik Willis throw meant for Malik Washington and returned it from the Detroit 40 to the Miami 26. Bates turned that into a 33-yard field goal and a 9-3 lead. Gonzalez answered from 52 yards to make it 9-6.

Fourth-and-1, No Hesitation

With about four minutes left in the third quarter, Goff finally found a chunk play, hitting Jameson Williams for 31 yards. The drive went six plays and 65 yards and reached fourth-and-1 at the Miami 8. Campbell, who has never needed much convincing on fourth down, kept the offense on the field. Gibbs took the handoff and covered all eight yards for the game's only touchdown with 1:20 left in the quarter. Bates added the extra point for a 16-6 lead.

That was the last time anyone reached the end zone. Miami still had a trick left: early in the fourth, punter Bradley Pinion faked it and hit Kaytron Allen for 46 yards. Then rookie Derrick Moore beat right tackle Austin Jackson on third down and chased Willis down as the quarterback rolled left, and the Dolphins had to settle for Gonzalez's 34-yarder with 9:26 to play. It was 16-9, as close as Miami would get.

Moore struck again on the second play of Miami's next drive, finishing a sack after Alim McNeill and Aidan Hutchinson flushed Willis from the pocket. Bates closed the scoring with a 43-yarder with 4:28 left, set up when Amon-Ra St. Brown turned a quick screen on third-and-8 into 17 yards. Miami's last real chance died on fourth down, when Caleb Douglas dropped a Willis pass that would have moved the chains.

Derrick Moore's Breakout

With DJ Wonnum out with a concussion, the second-round pick got the biggest workload of his young career, 33 defensive snaps after never playing more than 22, and turned it into the first two sacks of his NFL life. He is the first Lions rookie with a two-sack game since Hutchinson did it at Green Bay on Jan. 8, 2023.

"I feel like the game plan was really just rush like hell," Moore said. "Win your one-on-ones, get home, stay together, making sure we keep Malik in the pocket."

Campbell sounded like a coach who saw this coming. "The more reps he gets, the better he gets," he said. "He got a pretty good dose today, and he's improving." Hutchinson put it simply: "I'm super happy for him."

The linebackers held up without Jack Campbell, too: Barnes took over the green dot, and Malcolm Rodriguez slid to the middle and led the Lions with eight tackles.

Bates, meanwhile, was perfect a week after a miss against Minnesota in which he clipped holder Jack Fox's hand. He is 16 of 17 on field goals and, per the Lions, the first player in franchise history to score at least seven points in each of a team's first eight games. Gibbs carried 20 times for 74 yards, and St. Brown, listed as questionable with a rib injury, led all receivers with eight catches for 86 yards. Goff finished 17 of 25 for 170 yards with the interception, and his streak of 30 straight games with a touchdown pass came to an end.

The Numbers Behind It

• 4 of 4 on field goals for Bates, from 28, 40, 33 and 43 yards.
• 0 for 3 in the red zone for Miami.
• 11 Miami penalties for 87 yards, including a holding call that erased a long Willis completion to Kevin Coleman Jr.
• 13.6 points per game allowed by Detroit in three games since its bye, after giving up 29.6 per game over its first five.
• 54 wins for Campbell as Lions coach, second in franchise history behind Wayne Fontes (66).
• 2 successful fake punts, Pinion's 46-yard throw to Allen and Fox's 11-yarder to Tay Martin for Detroit.

Miami's Self-Inflicted Wounds

Miami's defense deserved a better result. Jordyn Brooks made 12 tackles, Jacob Rodriguez added 10 with a sack, and Hafley was not shy about the effort. "I'm proud of the defense," Hafley said. "Maybe their best performance of the year against, in my opinion, the most explosive offense in the NFL."

The offense gave it all back. "To keep going backwards, 11 penalties for 87 yards," Hafley said. "It's all self-inflicted on offense." Willis went 13 of 25 for 128 yards and an interception while playing through a tight groin that kept him from escaping the pocket. "It was tight today and you could see it," Hafley said. Ollie Gordon II managed 55 yards on 16 carries as Miami was held under 100 rushing yards for the second straight week, and Douglas was the lone bright spot in the passing game with six catches for 70 yards. Tight end Will Kacmarek hurt his quad on a low hit in the third quarter but walked off under his own power.

Willis did not sugarcoat it. "We can't keep saying the same things like, 'We gotta get better.' We gotta continue to fight to actually do it," he said. Miami visits Indianapolis on Nov. 15.

Ugly, Effective, and Bound for Munich

Detroit's offense will spend the flight to Germany watching tape it would rather forget. Goff was honest about it. "I thought, defensively, they did a good job against us," he said. Campbell preferred to talk about the other side of the ball. "We've cleaned a lot up," he said of a defense that has held four straight opponents to 21 points or fewer for the first time since 2016.

The Lions face New England in Munich on Nov. 15 with a 6-2 record, a kicker who rarely misses and a defense that suddenly looks like the reason they win. It was not pretty in Miami Gardens. It was No. 6 for 46, and that was the whole point.

Stats from the official box score via Fox Sports and the Associated Press. Postgame quotes as reported by DetroitLions.com, The Detroit News, UPI, Pride of Detroit, DolphinsTalk and Athlon Sports.