The Detroit Lions fell to 8-7 with a shocking 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday — and now the Lions’ chances of making the playoffs stand at only 6%, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Detroit trailed the Steelers for most of the second half after quarterback Jared Goff was sacked for a safety with 9:42 left in the third quarter, giving Pittsburgh a 12-10 lead. That set the stage for a wild fourth quarter, which began with the Steelers following the safety with a 17-play, nearly 10-minute drive that culminated in a field goal.
After Pittsburgh took a 15-10 lead, its defense forced a three-and-out, and four plays later the Steelers scored on a 45-yard touchdown run by Jaylin Warren to push their advantage to two scores.
The Lions offense, which at this point in the second half had run only six plays for minus-8 yards, finally got going. Jared Goff led a 10-play, 74-yard touchdown drive in under four minutes to cut the lead to 22-17. Kalif Raymond brought Detroit within one score with a clutch touchdown on fourth down.
But Pittsburgh struck back almost immediately. Three plays after Raymond scored, the Steelers were back in the end zone courtesy of another 45-yard touchdown run by Warren.
The Lions answered, however, engineering another 10-play drive capped by a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown.
Chaos began on the next drive. Pittsburgh made it all the way to Detroit’s 18-yard line and called on Chris Boswell for a 37-yard field goal. Boswell doinked the kick off the right upright, putting Detroit in position to drive for the go-ahead score with a little over two minutes left.
With only one timeout, the Lions drove the ball all the way to the red zone. With under 25 seconds to go, Detroit had first and goal from the 1-yard line. That’s when more madness ensued.
First, the Lions appeared to score a go-ahead touchdown, only for the score to be called back because of an offensive pass interference penalty.
Before the next snap, Detroit was called for a false start, pushing the offense from the 1-yard line all the way back to the 15-yard line. After a 7-yard pass brought the Lions closer to the end zone, Goff threw back-to-back incompletions, including a third-down drop by Isaac TeSlaa in the end zone.
And then, on fourth down, a controversial call ended the game. Goff threw complete to Amon-Ra St. Brown, but he was short of the end zone. As defenders pushed him back, St. Brown pitched the ball back to Goff, who dove into the end zone for a touchdown as time expired.
There were multiple flags on the play, however, and after a long discussion, the referees ruled that although Goff had scored, St. Brown had committed offensive pass interference, wiping out the touchdown and ending the game.
The Lions entered the game in eighth place and on the outside of the playoff picture in the NFC. Detroit still has a path to the postseason, but it’s a slim one.
The Lions will need to win their remaining two games against the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears (both on the road), while the Green Bay Packers will need to lose their final two games of the season against the Baltimore Ravens and the Minnesota Vikings.
