Two muddling teams, fit to be tied.
That pretty much sums up the unwatchable mess at Heinz Field Sunday, full of flags, fumbles and foibles.
The Detroit Lions didn’t lose. The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t win.
“Playing in a steady rain and 39-degree temperatures, Goff had one of his worst games of his career,” wrote Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “He completed 11 of 20 passes for 54 yards in regulation, and the Lions were unable to move the ball through the air.”
UPDATE: They didn’t lose today either https://t.co/odGKQEk8Kg
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) November 14, 2021
And yet, the Lions salvaged a tie.
“The Lions have not won since Dec. 6 of last year, when they rallied to defeat the Chicago Bears in Darrell Bevell’s first game as interim head coach, 34-30,” Birkett wrote. “They have not won in Pittsburgh since 1955, their winless streak starting in 1959 with a 10-10 tie against Bobby Layne, a run of 11 games.”
At least they won't go 0-17
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) November 14, 2021
Justin Rogers of the Detroit News described the final score as a “less-than-satisfying result.”
“The game looked poised to slip away when Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson beat Mark Gilbert for a long reception, but the Lions backup cornerback recovered to punch the ball free, which the Lions recovered near midfield,” he wrote.
The tie was intact.
“At least they won’t go 0-17,” tweeted Birkett.
Kyle Meinke of MLive summed up the game in a word: “Ugly.”
“Knotting up an AFC playoff contender that had won four straight games seems like something of a moral win for the league’s last winless team,” he wrote. “So does taking the possibility of the first 0-17 season in league history off the table. So at least there’s that.”
He added: “Hey, at least they won’t become the first team to go 0-17. Although with the way they’re playing, they seem to have an awfully good chance of becoming the first team ever to go 0-16-1.”
