It was a game neither team deserved to win. And neither team did win.
The Lions and Steelers played to a 16-16 tie today in Pittsburgh, the NFL’s first tie game this season.
It was an ugly game that left the Lions at 0-8-1 and the Steelers at 5-3-1.
The ugliest performance of all came from Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who completed 13 of 24 passes for 92 yards, and also lost 37 yards on four sacks. For an NFL team to gain just 55 yards on 28 pass plays is stunning ineptitude that raises the question of why Goff is still the Lions’ starter.
Mason Rudolph was the Steelers’ starter because Ben Roethlisberger has COVID-19, and the Steelers’ offense suffered. Rudolph marched them down the field for a touchdown on his first drive, but could do next to nothing the rest of the game. Rudolph wasn’t helped by his receivers, who lost two fumbles in overtime.
A lone bright spot is that both teams had a young running back top 100 rushing yards, with Najee Harris carrying 26 times for 105 yards for Pittsburgh, and D'Andre Swift carrying 33 times for 130 yards for Detroit.
But that was about it. Otherwise, this was just a bad football team without any winners to be found.