Detroit Lions unable to find end zone in loss to Steelers
By Matt Bosko
The Detroit Lions ineptitude on offense reared its ugly head in the game’s most crucial moments on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For the first time in weeks, it appeared that the Detroit Lions found some continuity with their offense, as the unit racked up 482 total yards. When it came down to executing in the red zone, however, the offense reverted back to their usual selves. The Lions took 18 snaps inside the Steelers’ 20 yard-line, and failed to find the end zone on any of them.
The game turned late in the third quarter. With the Lions trailing 13-12, the offense drove inside the Steelers’ five yard-line. After a first-down run to the one, the Lions threw an incomplete pass and then were stopped short of the end zone on a run by Dwayne Washington.
Instead of a chip-shot field goal attempt for the lead, Jim Caldwell rolled the dice and elected to go for the end zone on fourth down. Matthew Stafford was sacked, and the Lions turned the ball over on downs.
Three plays later, the Steelers burned Quandre Diggs and the Lions with a 97 yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
The Lions were able to rally, but never recovered from the momentum shift.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Lions once again found themselves on the Steelers one yard-line, and once again came up empty. Matt Prater, who connected on all five of his field goal attempts in the game, nailed the chip shot to cut the lead to 20-15.
After forcing a quick three-and-out, Stafford drove the Lions down the field, and connected with Golden Tate on a 34 yard pass. Tate caught the ball, pivoted, and fumbled it away without being touched.
The defense forced the Steelers to punt six plays later, and again the Lions knocked on the doorstep. A 44 yard reception by Eric Ebron brought the Lions to the Steelers’ 11 yard-line, where three ineffective plays in a row resulted in yet another turnover on downs.
The loss will cast a shadow over some notable performances on both sides of the ball.
Marvin and T.J. Jones combined for 10 catches and 216 receiving yards, while Matthew Stafford, who was sacked only twice, finished 27/45 for 423 yards.
The Lions defense, minus the long touchdown pass, was able to contain the Steelers offense for most of the night. Glover Quin intercepted Roethlisberger and later recovered a Le’Veon Bell fumble.
Bell was held to 76 yards on 25 carries, while fellow superstar Antonio Brown had only 5 catches for 70 yards.
The Lions (3-4) will next travel to Green Bay to take on the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers in a key divisional showdown.