Lions-Steelers final score: Detroit offense can’t find the end zone, lose 20-15

First half

There were a ton of Pittsburgh Steelers fans in attendance for the “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the Lions and Steelers, but the place was still rocking when Pittsburgh won the coin toss and chose to receive. Despite the fans’ energy, the defense gave up a 41-yard catch to JuJu Smith-Schuster on the very first play of the game that would lead to three points for the Steelers.

The Lions would respond with a nice drive that ultimately stalled with two false starts in a row, one of which looking like it should have been an offsides on Pittsburgh. Stafford kicked things off with a brilliant scramble away from the pocket and connected with Marvin Jones for 43 yards. They would knot the game up after Prater converted on a 48-yard field goal attempt.

On the following drive, and in beautiful fashion, Glover Quin would notch his third interception on the year and 19th with the Lions (t-16th all-time in Lions history). He’s really good.

And then this happened.

With nine minutes remaining in the first half, the Lions would add on another three points from Matt Prater, though they managed to get the ball all the way to the Steelers’ 10-yard line before shooting themselves in the foot yet again with another offensive penalty. They are asking a lot from their defense this year.

The Steelers would respond before the half with a touchdown after Miles Killebrew gave up a long reception to Antonio Brown, followed up by a 5-yard TD run from Le’Veon Bell. With 4:10 remaining, the Steelers led 10-6.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Lions responded on the very next drive with a field goal after the offense started off moving the ball and stalled in their opponent’s territory.

However, they did do something really creative. Jim Bob Cooter reached into his bag of tricks two days early and whipped up a play for Jamal Agnew on offense, who picked up a first down on a nifty reverse play.

The Lions would get the ball back one last time with under a minute remaining in the half and... yeah, you already know, why am I even writing this?

Field goal is good. Matt Prater 12, Steelers 10 at the half.

Second half

Things couldn’t have started off worse for the Lions on offense after receiving the ball to begin the second half. They would go three-and-out with Sam Martin subsequently shanking the punt and giving the Steelers great field position.

The defense held up their end of the bargain by only giving up three points, however, the Steelers would gain back the lead by a score of 13-12.

Diggs!

Once again, the Lions marched down the field on their next possession. This time, they made it to the Steelers’ 1-yard line and could not punch the ball in on four tries. On that very same drive, Rick Wagner went down and walked slowly off the field. He would be listed as “questionable” to return to the game, but would eventually make it back.

After turning the ball over on downs, the Steelers faced third-and-9 from their own 3-yard line after Big Ben missed an easy throw. And then this happened:

Bad Diggs.

The Lions made it inside the Steelers’ 5-yard line again, and settled for another field goal. Matt Prater is your Special Teams Player of the Week by sheer volume. The Steelers would lead by a score of 20-15 with under 13 minutes remaining in the game.

The offense would get another shot at a touchdown after Eric Ebron (!!) caught a huge-gainer and made it to Pittsburgh’s 11-yard line. They did not get a touchdown. Another turnover on downs meant that they would have to stop the Steelers one last time to give the offense their last ditch effort to win the game. But they did not.

They Lions lose to the Steelers by a score of 20-15. They drop to 3-4 and will face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field next Monday night.