We waited months and months for the Detroit Lions to turn the corner of their mediocre season, but it appears that turn is not coming. The Lions saved their worst outing of the year for their most important one. In a gotta-have-it game, the Lions looked outmatched in every way. On offense, they were without a running game yet again, and Jared Goff looked disjoined from the passing game until it was too late. On defense, Detroit gave up three explosive touchdowns, having no answer for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ rushing attack.
Detroit nearly mounted a furious comeback, but they failed to punch the ball in late despite several opportunities in goal-to-go situations.
The Lions are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but they are extreme long shots. They’ll need to win their two remaining games and need the Green Bay Packers to lose their final two games.
Here’s how Detroit’s letdown home finale played out.
First quarter
The Steelers won the toss and deferred, giving the Lions the opportunity to score first. Instead, they went three-and-out. A second-down sack from Keeanu Benton put the Lions behind the sticks and a screen pass to Jahmyr Gibbs went nowhere.
Pittsburgh would strike first after a methodical drive by Aaron Rodgers and company. Rodgers completed an 18-yard pass to Darnell Washington to convert a third-and-5. However, when they got into Lions territory, Detroit’s defense stiffened up. Aidan Hutchinson notched a second-down sack…
..and Alex Anzalone broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage to force a long field goal. Chris Boswell drilled the 59-yarder to make it 3-0 Steelers just under six minutes in.
Detroit’s offense mounted a promising drive in response. Although, Gibbs fumbled on the opening play, resulting in a 4-yard loss, Kalif Raymond pulled them out of the hole with a 13-yard gain on third-and-long. Then Anthony Firkser made a pair of contested catches for 18 and 14 yards to get the Lions into the red zone. Unfortunately for Detroit, they completely stalled in goal-to-go situations. Detroit opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line, and Goff could not find an open receiver, resulting in a turnover on downs.
The Lions defense had a chance to get off the field quick on a third-and-5, but Rodgers found Calvin Austin for an 8-yard gain that give the Steelers some breathing room.
Second quarter
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The Steelers would get more room with a Kenneth Gainwell 18-yard run, but that was it for the drive after a couple of incomplete passes from Rodgers.
A punt and a penalty on the Steelers set the Lions up at their own 38-yard line. The Lions would get into field goal range after a 21-yard catch from Jameson Williams and a 20-yard gain from Amon-Ra St. Brown to convert on a third down. However, Detroit’s red zone struggles continued with a negative run, a Gibbs drop, and a third-and-long failure. Jake Bates did cap the drive with a 36-yard field goal to make it a 3-3 tie with 10 minutes left in the half.
The three teams traded three-and-outs. Two for the Steelers, one for the Lions. But this sack from Hutchinson—his second of the game—helped swing field position in Detroit’s favor.
Kalif Raymond returned the ensuing punt to the38-yard line, giving the Lions their best opportunity to take their first lead of the game. And they did just that. Goff started out the drive with 13-yard passes to both Isaac TeSlaa and Jahmyr Gibbs. A few plays later, Goff went back to LaPorta for a deep shot up the seam and the rookie receiver caught the ball in traffic for a nice 20-yard touchdown catch. 10-3 Lions.
The Steelers had 1:55 left and two timeouts to cut into the Lions’ lead. Detroit’s defense had three third-and-10s to get off the field, but Rodgers completed an 11-yard pass to Pat Freiermuth, a 12-yard pass to Adam Thielen, and another 13-yarder to Thielen to move to the Lions’ side of the field.
Then one of the more ridiculous plays you’ll ever see happened. Rodgers uncorked a deep shot to running back Kenneth Gainwell, who had been dragged down by linebacker Alex Anzalone. Gainwell caught the ball from on the ground, got up, and scampered in for a 45-yard touchdown with 2 seconds left. 10-10 tie.
Third quarter
The Steelers nearly took the early lead in the second half with a long drive. Rodgers completed two key passess—and 12-yarder to Metcalf and an 18-yarder to Thielen—to convert third downs. After 21-yard run from Jaylen Warren, the Lions caught a huge break. Jack Campbell punched the ball out of Darnell Washington’s hands and Campbell recovered for a red zone turnover.
But Detroit’s offense would give the Steelers the lead. After two ineffective passing plays, the Steelers sent a blitz on third down and took down Goff for a safety. 12-10 Steelers.
The Steelers promptly mounted an extremely long, draining drive. The drive, which ran 17 plays and bled nearly 10 minutes off the clock, included a third-and-9 conversion, and a pair of fourth down conversions, including this nifty tush-push fake:
A couple of penalties in the red zone pushed the Steelers back, and Detroit got a third-and-goal stop to force a field goal attempt on the other side of the intermission.
Fourth quarter
Boswell made a 23-yard field goal to make it 15-10 Steelers on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Detroit promptly went three-and-out on three incomplete passes, continuing a lifeless effort from the Lions offense. Pittsburgh took advantage, scoring on a 45-yard toss to Jaylen Warren to make it 22-10 Steelers with 12:23 left.
With the Lions now in desperation mode, Detroit was able to drive into the Steelers territory. And on fourth-and-2, Goff found Raymond on a crossing route for a 27-yard touchdown. 22-17 Steelers.
But the Lions defense couldn’t keep them in the game. Warren bounced outside for another 45-yard touchdown run, essentially icing the game with 6:41 left. 29-17 Steelers.
To the Lions’ credit, they did keep fighting. Detroit mounted a quick 10-play, 68-yard drive in just over two minutes. They capped it off with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Gibbs to make it 29-24 Steelers with 4:11 left.
The Steelers looked like they were about to put the game away. They hit on a couple of explosive plays to get all the way down to the Lions’ 18-yard line. But their drive stalled there, right around the 2-minute warning, and Boswell shockingly missed the 37-yard field goal to keep it 29-24 Steelers with 2:05 remaining.
With one timeout left, the Lions needed to go 73 yards to keep their realistic playoff hopes alive. The Lions got an early fourth-down conversion thanks to a pass interference penalty, moving them to midfield. Then a tripping penalty erased a sack and gave Detroit another 15 yards. Then a screen pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown went for 24 yards and put Detroit just 12 yards away from taking the lead.
Detroit appeared to score the go-ahead touchdown with 22 seconds left, but Isaac TeSlaa was called for offensive pass interference. Setting up first-and-goal from the 11. Then a false start moved them to the 16. After finding Gibbs for 7 yards, the Lions were at the 9-yard line with 16 seconds left. Goff went incomplete, incomplete, and a wild play where St. Brown caught a pass, lateraled it to Goff, who scored. But St. Brown was called for pass interference on the play, ending the game.
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