The Detroit Lions aren’t officially out of playoff contention yet, but it might just be a matter of time.
The Lions have been outstanding the past two seasons, advancing to the NFC Championship Game and finishing last season with a 15-2 record. After the Lions’ poor performance against the Steelers, this game was on life support. For three quarters, the offense struggled to get a first down against a short-handed Steelers defense, and then the defense was unable to stop it in the fourth quarter when the game was still in the balance. When the Lions had a chance to steal the victory in the final two minutes, Pittsburgh missed a field goal and trailed 27-22. Amon-Ra St. Brown’s touchdown was wiped out due to offensive pass interference, and the offense was unable to rebound and score after that. On the final fourth play of the game, St. Brown caught a pass near the goal line and lateraled to Goff for a touchdown, but the touchdown failed. St. Brown was called for an offensive pass interference penalty and the game ended. On the play, St. Brown ran straight into Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who also extended his arm to create space, then came back to catch the ball as the referee blew the whistle on the play. Detroit fans will argue that this shouldn’t have been blown, and it did take away from the amazing touchdown that the Lions won.
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The Lions lost 29-24, falling to 8-7. Pittsburgh deserves credit for maintaining atop the AFC North with an upset victory. The defense was without pass rushers TJ Watt and Nick Herbig, which limited the Lions’ offense until the fourth quarter rally. Running back Jaylen Warren gave the offense the help it needed with two long touchdown runs and a stellar touchdown reception from Kenneth Gainwell. The Steelers have been a cool story this season, but Sunday’s story is about a team that dreamed of a Super Bowl before the season and fell further into the NFC playoff picture.
Detroit now needs to win and get a lot of help to get back into the playoffs. They haven’t shown enough consistency all season to prove they deserve a spot.
Steelers take control early
The Steelers were able to keep the game low-scoring, which wasn’t the best news for the Lions. Both offenses struggled to get going. The Steelers tied the game at 10-10 at the end of the first half, but they needed a miraculous catch from Ganwell to do that. Gainwell ran deep and was scrambled by Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone while defending a pass, but the ball hit him in his right hand as he went down. Gainwell was able to catch the pass, and since he wasn’t touched after the catch, he stood up and ran for the touchdown with two seconds left in the half.
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That game was the bulk of the Steelers offense, but the Lions didn’t really dominate. The Lions moved the ball well, but the run game was completely ineffective in the first half, and they only managed one touchdown before halftime.
The Steelers took the lead in the second half when safety Jared Goff was sacked in the end zone and then hit a long field goal to take a 15-10 lead. The Lions barely had the ball in the third quarter. They had three plays in the third quarter to the Steelers’ 25.
This prevented the Lions from finding a rhythm on offense. This must be the goal for the Steelers.
Lions had a chance in the fourth quarter
In the third quarter, things went from bad to worse for the Lions. Just 51 seconds later, the Steelers safety completed the Lions’ possession. That was the only 51 seconds the Lions had the ball in the quarter.
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The Steelers didn’t make many good plays, but the Lions couldn’t get off the field. Pittsburgh had nine and 17 possessions, respectively. They fumbled deep in Lions territory on their first possession, but Detroit was safe immediately after that. The Lions trailed 22-10 when Warren scored a 45-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The Lions struck on fourth-and-2 with less than nine minutes remaining in the second quarter when Goff easily hit Kalif Raymond for a 27-yard touchdown. This allowed the Lions to survive. But then Warren completed another 45-yard touchdown. The injured Lions defense wasn’t enough to give the team a chance to make the playoffs this season.
But Detroit still had a chance in the final two minutes. The Steelers went for another long drive, but the ball stalled and Chris Boswell’s 37-yard field goal attempt missed the right upright. Detroit trailed 22-27 and needed a touchdown to win. A pass interference call against the Steelers on fourth down kept the team alive. Pittsburgh’s tripping penalty gave the Lions 15 more yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown had a 24-yard gain on a rushing screen to bring the Lions to the 12-yard line. St. Brown scored a touchdown, but it was called back due to an offensive pass-rush penalty on rookie receiver Isaac TeSlaa. Detroit didn’t score again after that, and despite Goff’s memorable touchdown run down the side, the Steelers ended up with a win.
With this win, the Steelers are one step closer to winning the AFC North. The Lions are one step closer to missing the playoffs entirely.
