The Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off one of the wildest wins of the NFL season on Sunday, edging out the Detroit Lions in a finish that felt more like a movie script than a football game. As time expired, the Lions looked like they had completed a dramatic comeback with a game-winning touchdown-until a penalty flag brought it all crashing down. The score was wiped off the board, and with it, Detroit’s shot at a statement win.
It all started to unravel for the Lions after Steelers kicker Chris Boswell missed a 37-yard field goal with just over two minutes left. That miss cracked the door wide open for Detroit.
Had Boswell connected, Pittsburgh would’ve gone up by eight, forcing the Lions into a touchdown and a two-point conversion just to tie. Instead, Detroit had a golden opportunity to steal the win outright.
But the Lions couldn’t capitalize. The final play, which initially looked like a walk-off touchdown, was nullified by a penalty-one of those moments that will haunt a team’s film room for weeks. Just like that, the Steelers escaped with a 29-24 victory.
The ripple effects of that final sequence go well beyond just the two teams on the field. With the Lions’ loss, both the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers officially punched their tickets to the postseason. Detroit, meanwhile, is still in the playoff hunt via the wild card, but their hopes of taking the NFC North crown are officially over.
As for Pittsburgh, this win meant more than just a notch in the win column. It locked in Mike Tomlin’s 19th consecutive non-losing season-a staggering run of consistency that speaks volumes about the culture he’s built in the Steel City. At 9-6, the Steelers now sit atop the AFC North heading into Week 17, holding the edge over the Baltimore Ravens in one of the league’s tightest division races.
It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t pretty. But it was classic Steelers football-gritty, dramatic, and just enough to get the job done.