Jake Bates makes 52-yarder as time expires, Lions overcome Jared Goff's 5 INTs to beat Texans 26-23

HOUSTON (AP) — Nothing was going right for Detroit's Jared Goff on Sunday night against the Houston Texans.

The nine-year veteran threw a career-high five interceptions through three quarters and the Lions trailed by 10 points.

Instead of wallowing in his mistakes, Goff rallied the Lions to an improbable 26-23 win that was capped by a 52-yard field goal by Jake Bates as time expired.

“I had some unfortunate things early, but I’ve been through a whole lot worse than that,” Goff said. “Mentally, I’ve been to the bottom. Some unlucky plays aren’t going to throw me off my game.”

The Lions improved to 8-1 for the first time since 1954 with their seventh straight victory overall and fifth in a row on the road.

“That was a hard-fought game,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said. “We had to fight our way back in there. I’m proud of the guys. There’s things we’ve got to clean up, but our guys wouldn’t go away. They just wouldn’t go away.”

Detroit trailed 23-7 at halftime after Goff threw three interceptions in the first two quarters. He threw two more picks in the third. Nonetheless, the Lions scored 16 straight points to tie it with about five minutes to go on Bates' 58-yard field goal.

“I just don’t deserve this,” Bates said. “I was a soccer player growing up. I idolized football players in the NFL, and just to be here is surreal. I’m still pinching myself.”

The Texans (6-4) had a chance to take the lead with just under two minutes left, but Ka'imi Fairbairn’s 58-yard try was wide left.

“We didn’t make the plays to win the game ... to win games guys have to step up and make plays and that’s not happening,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said.

The Lions became the first team to win when throwing five or more interceptions since Atlanta beat Arizona 23-19 on Nov. 18, 2012, when Matt Ryan was picked off five times.

David Montgomery ran for 3-yard touchdown early in the third, but his run on the 2-point conversion try was stopped, leaving the Lions down 23-13. A 9-yard TD reception by Amon-Ra St. Brown got Detroit within 23-20 early in the fourth quarter.

Goff threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns and Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 71 yards.

C.J. Stroud threw for 232 yards and a touchdown, but he threw two interceptions in the second half as the Texans were shut out after the break to lose for the third time in four games.

“I blame this game on me,” Stroud said. “I’ve got to be better in those moments. When the defense is getting turnovers like they did, we’ve got to be able to reward them with points.”

Goff's five picks were the most by an NFL player since Jameis Winston threw five on Oct. 13, 2019, for Tampa Bay against Carolina.

Goff hadn’t thrown an interception in five games and entered Sunday with just four all season. His previous career high was four in a loss to Chicago while with the Rams on Dec. 9, 2018.

“There’s just these little circumstances that come into play so for me, I’m not going to tell him anything,” Campbell said. “These weren’t ill-advised throws, it just wasn’t our day.”

Rookie Kamari Lassiter led the Texans with two interceptions as they set a franchise record for picks.

Jimmie Ward intercepted Goff on Detroit’s first drive on a ball that was tipped by Jalen Pitre to give Houston the ball at the Detroit 33. The Texans made it 7-0 when Joe Mixon ran 8 yards for a touchdown.

A 34-yard field goal by Fairbairn extended the lead to 10-0 with about two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Detroit cut the lead to 10-7 on a 20-yard touchdown reception by Sam LaPorta.

The Texans were up by 6 when Denico Autry hit Goff’s arm as he threw and the ball fell into the hands of Henry To’oTo’o to give Houston possession at the Detroit 36.

But the Texans couldn’t move the ball after that and settled for Fairbairn's 29-yard field goal that made it 16-7 with about four minutes left in the first half.

Houston extended the lead to 23-7 when Stroud found John Metchie III for a 15-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left in the second quarter. It was the first career touchdown for Metchie, who missed his entire rookie season in 2022 undergoing treatment for leukemia.

Goff threw his third interception when Lassiter picked off his desperation throw on the last play of the first half.

Davis intercepted Stroud on the first play of the second half. But Lassiter grabbed his second interception of the game three plays later.

After Montgomery's touchdown, Detroit's Carlton Davis III leapt in front of Tank Dell in the end zone for his second interception. Goff threw his fifth pick two plays later, but the Texans couldn't capitalize and were forced to punt.

Lions: LaPorta injured the AC joint in one of his shoulders but Campbell said he doesn't know how significant of an injury it is.

Texans: DE Will Anderson Jr. missed the game with an ankle injury. ... WR Nico Collins didn’t play after being activated from injured reserve Saturday. … Lassiter left in the third quarter with a concussion.

Lions: Host Jacksonville next Sunday.

Texans: Visit Dallas on Monday, Nov. 18.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (28) runs for a first down during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Houston Texans defensive end Denico Autry (96) hits Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) as he throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff reacts on the bench after throwing an interception during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans wide receiver John Metchie III (8) celebrates with teammate Xavier Hutchinson (19) after catching a 15-yard touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Houston Texans wide receiver John Metchie III catches a 15-yard touchdown pass in front of Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold, left, during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Detroit Lions place kicker Jake Bates (39) kicks a 58-yard field goal during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Detroit Lions place kicker Jake Bates (39) celebrates with teammates after kicking a 52-yard field goal at the end of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Houston. The Lions won 26-23. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States said Tuesday it wouldn't punish Israel over the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. But it urged Israel to increase the flow of aid into the besieged territory.

The White House last month gave Israel 30 days to improve conditions or risk losing military support. As the deadline expired, leading international aid groups said the U.S. had fallen far short, with the humanitarian situation in Gaza the worst it has been since the war erupted.

Late Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said that Israel has made limited progress and that it wouldn't take any punitive action against its close ally. However, it called for more steps.

“We are not giving Israel a pass,” said Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman. “We want to see the totality of the humanitarian situation improve.”

After 13 months of war, aid groups accuse the Israeli military of hindering and even blocking shipments in Gaza. Almost the entire population of around 2.3 million Palestinians is relying on international aid for survival, and food security experts and rights groups caution that famine may already be underway in hard-hit north Gaza.

“It’s really frustrating because by almost every objective metric, all agencies say that the humanitarian situation has gotten worse in that time frame that the U.S. has specified,” Aseel Baidoun, a senior manager of the aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians, said on Wednesday. “Even though we have provided all the evidence that there is a risk of famine ... still the U.S. miraculously finds Israel not violating the humanitarian aid law.”

Israel, which controls all crossings into Gaza, says it is committed to delivering humanitarian assistance and has scrambled to ramp up aid. It says the U.N. and international aid groups need to do a better job of distributing supplies.

Aid into Gaza is typically measured in terms of truckloads of food and supplies entering the territory. The U.S. has demanded 350 trucks daily.

Israeli government figures show roughly 57 trucks a day entering on average in October and 75 a day in November. The U.N. counts trucks differently and says it has only received 39 trucks daily since the beginning of October.

In northern Gaza, where the Israeli military has been carrying out a major offensive over the past month, the figures were even lower. No aid entered the northernmost areas of Gaza – Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun – in October, the U.N. says.

Israel says it closed all the Gaza crossings for the Jewish high holidays in October and couldn’t send aid to the north because of the offensive against Hamas fighters.

Over the last two days, the military body handling aid deliveries to Gaza — COGAT — says it has allowed aid trucks to enter the hardest-hit northern areas. But only three of the trucks have made it to their destination successfully, according to the World Food Program.

Aid groups accuse the Israeli army of blocking aid trucks from reaching areas where the fighting is most intense, including northern Gaza, where hunger is most acute.

“There can be aid sitting at the border ready to come in. But if we are not provided a safe passage to go and collect it, it’s not possible for us to have it. And it will not reach the people who need it,” said Louise Wateridge, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA has been the main agency procuring and distributing aid in Gaza, and a feud between Israel and the agency, led Israel to take steps toward banning it last month. Israel says Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA -- a charge the agency denies.

During October, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Israeli authorities rejected roughly 43% of all humanitarian movement requests, and impeded a further 16%.

Israeli authorities have also prohibited some vehicles and goods from entering the enclave, aid groups say, often without explanation. Rachel Morris, of the aid group Mercy Corps, said trucks carrying the group’s tent supplies have been turned away more than five times.

Israel says it denies entry to supplies that could be weaponized by Hamas.

Under intense international pressure, Israel has since taken measures to up aid delivery, with COGAT saying it was allowing trucks into the hard-hit north. On Tuesday, it said had opened a fifth border crossing to increase the flow of aid.

But aid groups say access is still an issue.

The World Food Program said vehicles filled with its supplies were denied access to Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya on Tuesday. The day before, the U.N. agency said it received approval from the army to deliver supplies to Beit Hanoun only to be stopped by troops on route in Jabaliya and ordered to offload the stockpile there.

“I witnessed during my visit to Gaza last week the deliberate starvation of almost 2 million civilians, whilst the bombardment continues,” said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a major relief provider. “There is barely any aid crossing into Gaza.”

Also stymying distribution is theft and criminality along aid routes.

Israel accuses UNRWA of failing to pick up hundreds of trucks worth of supplies piling up at the territory’s main southern aid crossing. It says the aid has been waiting there for months.

But the military and aid agencies both acknowledge that aid deliveries are treacherous, because family-based crime groups are robbing the trucks. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines, estimated that 30% to 40% of aid supplies are stolen by members of criminal families.

COGAT spokesperson Shani Sasson said that the Israeli army has tried to secure part of the route and find alternate routes for drivers, but can't accompany each aid truck and the criminal groups are always moving.

Many aid groups that use the crossing now say it's too dangerous for their staff to collect aid. Baidoun, with MAP, said that drivers sometimes have to pay fees to move their aid from the crossing into Gaza.

He said that the Israeli military was “failing to provide an enabling environment to bring in sufficient humanitarian goods to Gaza.”

Aid groups also say their warehouses and workers have come under attack from Israeli forces. OCHA says that at least 326 aid workers have been killed since the start of the war. It's not clear how many have been killed while working.

Melanie Lidman contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Israel.

FILE - Palestinians line up to receive aid distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, in Nusairat refugee camp, Gaza, on Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE - An aircraft airdrops humanitarian aid over Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE - Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE - Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE - Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE - Palestinians are storming trucks loaded with humanitarian aid brought in through a new U.S.-built pier, in the central Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE - Trucks carrying humanitarian aid cross into the Gaza Strip from Erez crossing in southern Israel, on Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)