Detroit Lions: Week 8 game balls in loss to Pittsburgh Steelers

The Detroit Lions dropped a close game to the Steelers Sunday night. These three players had a night worthy of mention.

Marvin Jones showed up on a night where the Detroit Lions desperately needed someone to do so. Despite the losing effort, Jones was everywhere, all night. With Golden Tate battered, working with a shoulder that clearly bothered him all night, the Lions needed someone else to step in. Jones had six catches for 128 yards against a very good Steelers offense.

On Defense, rookie Jalen Reeves-Maybin gets the game ball. He played the majority of his snaps in the first half, he was all over the field. In just one of many truly puzzling coaching decisions, Reeves-Maybin disappeared in the second half.

There were other players who deserved consideration, but one by one they let Lions fans down as the game drew to a close. Quandre Diggs and Glover Quin were dueling for the award until they combined to allow a JuJu Smith-Schuster 97-yard touchdown. Darius Slay had it locked until a pass interference on third down handed the Steelers a game killing first down. In the end, only Reeves-Maybin’s night ended before he played long enough to become the villain.

On special teams, the game ball obviously goes to the only Lion to score any points on the night. Matt Prater made all five of his field goal attempts. His longest of the evening was a 51-yard bomb. These have become routine for Lions fans, but other fanbases can only dream of a specialist group as gifted as the one playing in Detroit.

Next: Lions can't find end zone in loss to Steelers

The Lions clearly still have problems coming out of the bye week, but the three players above give fans a reason to be optimistic. The Steelers were the most difficult team left on the Lions schedules, and if not for a puzzling decision not to kick a field goal that would have given them the lead, the Lions may have had a completely different result.