Schrager’s cheat sheet: Jake Bates’ unlikely rise from brick salesman to star kicker

Every week, FOX Sports NFL Insider Peter Schrager opens his notebook and weighs in on three of the league’s biggest storylines. Here are his views on Week 11, including the Lions kicker’s unlikely promotion, a hot head coaching candidate in Los Angeles and key decisions facing the Bills.

Lions’ Magical 2024

The Lions are not expected to win games like Sunday night’s miraculous 26-23 win over the Houston Texans.

Jared Goff threw five interceptions.

Away from home, the team trailed by 16 points at halftime.

Their United Football League kicker made two field goals of more than 50 yards in the final stanza.

But they did. And sometimes it’s just one of those years.

The Lions used to lose these games. The stats from Sunday’s win are staggering. It’s the biggest comeback win for Detroit in 10 years. The Lions became just the second team in NFL history to throw five interceptions in a game and overcome a 15-point deficit. Goff became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw five interceptions and win a game on the road. One of the others was a guy named Frankie Sinkwich, and this was in 1944.

The interceptions shaped the story of the first half and the comeback was spectacular. But Jake Bates has also become a real weapon. Bates scored his first career game-winning field goal on Sunday, but it came with a wild, game-winning 58-yard shot just minutes earlier. Bates’ story is quite emblematic of this Lions team as a whole. Overlooked, considered done for a few years ago and now blazing fast, he might as well be the face of the 2024 team.

When kicker Michael Badgley was sidelined with an injury during the preseason, the Lions chose an unusual name. Bates’ story is unique. He played college football at Arkansas State but transferred to Texas State, where he only played kickoffs. This 2020 Texas State season, someone else — a guy named Seth Keller — took care of the field goals. In two college appearances, Bates did not attempt a single field goal. Then he got a chance with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and didn’t stick. He was snubbed by the Texans last year but was cut early in training camp.

Bates took the long route. In December, while the rest of the NFL watched the Chiefs play the Raiders in Arrowhead, Bates signed a professional football contract… with the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League. He then dominated this league. NFL scouts watched and watched several field goals of more than 60 yards. He signed with the Lions in June. And when Badgley went down, Bates won the competition. Without the crazy college factoids, it was a long shot. In fact, Bates was one of only two UFL players to make a 53-man NFL roster, out of 77 who participated in the 2024 NFL preseason.

After his game-winning goal against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6, Bates said this: “I worked as a brick salesman in Houston. I thought the dream was dead. … I thought football was over, so I had to move.” Move on and do something else with my life. Luckily the Lord had something else in mind.”

Bates belongs to the Lions. Bully, headstrong and persistent.

After Sunday’s ridiculous win, Goff told reporters, “Every team gets punched in the mouth, and the good ones respond.”

The Lions are more than just good.

Jake Bates moved from the UFL to be an important part of the Lions’ success in 2024. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Who is Jesse Minter?

Last year, John Harbaugh’s Ravens were on their way to the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and when Lamar Jackson won the MVP award, their young defensive coordinator caught the attention of NFL teams looking for their next head coach. That 38-year-old defensive wizard was Mike MacDonald and he is now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

Well, the other Harbaugh brother is having quite the first season in Los Angeles, and his young, talented defensive coordinator is now making a big splash as a head coach, too.

Meet 41-year-old DC first-year Jesse Minter, whose Chargers defense is, by most measures, the best in the league. The Chargers are the fourth team since 1990 to allow 20 or fewer points in each of their first nine games. If they do it again next week against the Cincinnati Bengals, they will become just the second team in the last 34 years to do so, joining the Super Bowl XXV champion New York Giants.

It’s not just Joey Bosa and Derwin James either. Lineback Daiyan Henley had 10 tackles and a sack against the Titans in Week 10. Bud Dupree – yes, that Bud Dupree – flew all over the field and had a sack. Elijah Molden has three interceptions this season.

Minter’s unit was outstanding. His path to this point is eerily similar to MacDonald’s. Just as MacDonald was cutting his teeth in Baltimore under John Harbaugh and getting his first big opportunity in Michigan as brother Jim’s DC, Minter was doing the same. From 2017 to 2020, Minter served as an assistant DB coach in Baltimore. After a stint at Vanderbilt, he got the call and moved to Ann Arbor, where he served as the architect of a national title defense in 2023.

There will be many job vacancies in 2025. Minter is only 41 years old, popular with the players and will be interviewing. Chargers fans – enjoy it while you can.

Jesse Minter (right) has the Chargers defense playing at an extremely high level. (Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)

Bills’ big decisions

In Week 11, all eyes will be on Sunday’s Bills-Chiefs battle in Buffalo. However, Buffalo’s approach to the game matters a lot. Look, Buffalo is getting beaten up on offense. Dalton Kincaid and Amari Cooper will both be key players for the Bills. Both players are injured. Kincaid missed the Bills’ Week 10 win at Indianapolis with a knee injury, while Cooper has been out since Oct. 27.

The showdown with the Chiefs should be the biggest game of the Bills’ regular season.

And yet the team has a bye in Week 12. Do you want to push back on Kincaid and Cooper? Do you rest them? Coaches – and players – make big money with these decisions. A win over Kansas City would tighten the AFC standings, and of course the Bills want to move on, but in the long run the better – and smarter – play might be to rest their top two receiving options for 14 more days.

Sean McDermott is one of the best trainers in the business and both Kincaid and Cooper are gamers. That’s the storyline I’m looking at as we head toward another epic showdown between the Chiefs and the Bills.

The Bills hope to get Amari Cooper back for Sunday’s showdown against the Chiefs. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

STATUS OF THE WEEK

Jalen Hurts has scored 10 rushing touchdowns this season, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to reach that mark in four consecutive seasons.

Peter Schrager is an NFL insider for FOX Sports and host of “Good Morning Football” on NFL Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @PSchrags.

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