DETROIT — The Detroit Lions’ season was hanging by a thread, their playoff hopes fading fast, but it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who visited Michigan and came out like the team with its back against the wall.

A banged-up offensive line bullied a beleaguered defense to the tune of 230 rushing yards, a front five missing T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig smothered a dynamic run game on the other side and the Steelers held off the Lions for a 29-24 win Sunday at Ford Field.

Two decades ago, the Steelers’ Super Bowl XL season ended in this building. This year, their postseason push went through it in similar fashion. They’re now 9-6, clinching a 22nd consecutive season of .500 or better football. But it’s far more significant that they managed to stay ahead of the Baltimore Ravens, who are 8-6 and face the New England Patriots later Sunday night.

Aaron Rodgers completed 27 of 41 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown, exacting some sort of vengeance on the old NFC North rival who ended his Green Bay tenure with a loss. But Rodgers had plenty of help from his supporting cast, completing a pass to nine receivers and even getting a 20-yard run from tight end Jonnu Smith.

Things got extremely dicey for the Steelers in the fourth quarter when they kept trading punches with the Lions (8-7). Just before the two-minute warning, a rare Chris Boswell missed field goal — from just 37 yards away, no less — gave Jared Goff the chance to mount a two-minute drill from his 27 with 2:05 left. But …

It was over when

Goff completed a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown just shy of the goal line, and he was hit by Joey Porter Jr. and shoveled the ball back to Goff. Goff scored off of the lateral — but the touchdown was negated by an offensive pass interference call. By rule, that was the end of the game.

Player of the game

Kenneth Gainwell. Another week, another fantastic performance by Gainwell, who gained well, caught well and ran well in this one. He had five receptions for 78 yards, none bigger than an incredible 45-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. Gainwell was interfered with by linebacker Alex Anzalone, fell to the turf and still managed to secure the ball with his forearm. He then had the wherewithal to spring back up and hustle to the end zone after Anzalone failed to touch him down. His nine rushes for 50 yards were an efficient bonus. Take a bow, Mr. Gainwell, and Jaylen Warren, too. His pair of 45-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter were blocked up perfectly, but Warren had to do the heavy lifting.

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Cam Heyward. Several members of the defense could get this nod after how they smothered the NFL’s highest-scoring offense for most of the first three quarters and held them to 15 yards rushing, but let’s go with Heyward, who’s getting better as his age-36 season rolls along. He was drawing double-teams all game, and actually was triple-teamed in the third quarter when Kyle Dugger shot the gap for a sack and safety. Heyward occupying a trio of blockers allowed Dugger to hit on his safety blitz, giving the Steelers a momentum boost early in the second half. The longest-tenured Steeler also had a sack himself, giving him one in back-to-back games.

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Darnell Washington. The de-facto No. 1 tight end managed to finish with 36 receiving yards, only his second game with more than 25 since mid-November. Not only has Washington been less productive as a pass-catcher in recent weeks, but he had a costly fumble in Detroit as the Steelers were driving in the third quarter. He also was flagged for offensive pass interference in the end zone, negating a DK Metcalf touchdown catch (although it also probably led to that Metcalf touchdown catch).

Up next

The annual bus ride to Cleveland, where the Steelers have just one win since 2017.

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