Detroit Lions vs. Pittsburgh Steelers first half open thread

The Detroit Lions, still in search of their first win of the 2021 season, have been handed a few gifts already this week. Coming off a bye, the Lions have had an extra week to prepare and are entering Sunday fairly healthy (by their standards). They’ve even been gifted a decent wide receiver through the waiver wire process—although Josh Reynolds is inactive this week.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, are working off a short week, and will be missing their starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

It’s a nice mixture of happenstances that could lead the Lions to victory, especially considering this wasn’t too much of a lopsided matchup going into Sunday anyways.

But it also makes for a tough game to predict. Will the Lions come out of the bye looking like an entirely different team? How much will Taylor Decker’s return help Detroit’s struggling offense? What will Mason Rudolph look like and will the Steelers change their strategy much with him behind center.

Come watch it unfold with all of us here in our first half open thread.