The Lions sold out the 1,500 tickets that were remaining for Sunday's Steelers game, meaning that there is no blackout and it will be shown live on CBS in the local area. Once it was announced on Wednesday that only 1,500 tickets were still available, the feeling was that the game would be sold out today or tomorrow if an extension was granted. Usually extensions are granted when a team needs 24 more hours to move the unsold tickets, with a sellout being almost guaranteed. For the home opener, the Lions received an extension to sell out the game, but this time around a sellout was reached before the normal deadline.
Even though the game will not be blacked out, it doesn't look like fans will get to watch Matthew Stafford on Sunday. He missed practice again today, meaning he has been sidelined for back-to-back days. That isn't a guarantee that he will miss Sunday's game, but it is certainly a sign that he isn't all that close to being ready to play. Daunte Culpepper will step in as the team's starter if Stafford is indeed out on Sunday, but he won't be the only backup who gets a chance to start.
Aside from Stafford, Dewayne White, Sammie Hill, and Ko Simpson all missed practice today and according to John Niyo, are "likely out" against Pittsburgh.
Some good news is that Calvin Johnson, Gosder Cherilus, and Kalvin Pearson returned to practice on a limited basis, meaning they will likely be in the lineup on Sunday barring any setbacks.