Pictured: almost every NFL fan watching week 16 action

It is not often that we see so many unbelievable games in one week in the National Football League. From Seattle’s miraculous 16-point comeback overtime win against the Rams on Thursday Night Football—which featured a very controversial two-point conversion—to Sunday Night Football’s victory by the Patriots over the Ravens, despite the Pats trailing by 11 in the fourth quarter, it was a jaw-dropping four days. 

How about the Bears scoring ten points in 100 seconds, aided by an onside kick recovery, on Saturday night against the Packers, and winning on a walk-off touchdown pass from Caleb Williams to DJ Moore? Or the Panthers claiming first place in the NFC South in a back-and-forth clash with the Buccaneers, as they picked off the usually-clutch Baker Mayfield with 49 seconds left to win by three. 

One of the best—and definitely the strangest—games was the Steelers-Lions game. In fact, I cannot recall a more perplexing final sequence than the one that occurred at Ford Field yesterday evening. 

If you had told me going into the game that the Steelers would out-gain the Lions by 120 yards and hold Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to a combined 16 yards on 11 carries, I would have thought Pittsburgh’s margin of victory would have been much larger than the 29-24 final that resulted. However, if you had told me that the Steelers would lose the turnover battle, I would have assumed the Lions would emerge victorious. 

It was a strange game. The Steelers had three touchdowns of exactly 45 yards. They ran for 230 yards on 27 totes, averaging 8.51 yards per rush. They out-possessed Detroit, despite entering week 16 with the league’s lowest time-of-possession. Rodgers threw for 266 yards, with over half coming before the catch, which was quite different than last week’s passing game. Oh, and DK Metcalf punched a Lions’ fan in the face and Chris Boswell missed a short field goal that would have put the Steelers up eight with just over two minutes remaining. 

In a game of absurdities, the Lions’ final drive took the cake. On a third-and-thirteen from their own 24, Jared Goff completed a pass to Shane Zylstra in the middle of the field for 11 yards. The game paused for a replay review. In slow motion, the ball could be seen moving on the ground, and it did not look like Zylstra maintained control through the process of completing the catch. Replay upheld the call, which I assume means they did not have substantial evidence to overturn the call. Fine, whatever. However, I was perplexed as to why there was not a ten-second runoff. The clock was running when play was stopped, since Zylstra was tackled in the field of play. The Lions essentially got a free timeout from the replay booth. 

On the ensuing fourth-and-two, safety Kyle Dugger was penalized for pass interference, as the umpire deemed he made contact with wide receiver Jameson Williams prior to the ball arriving. In slow motion, the call looked to be correct. However, in real time, the infraction could certainly be debated. The more irritating aspect of this moment was that the zebras took a long time to throw the flag, making it seem like they were just as unsure as I was that Dugger committed pass interference. 

On the very next play, Alex Highsmith sacked Jared Goff…with an outstretched leg. He was penalized fifteen yards for a tripping foul. I had no gripes about this. In three plays, the Lions, with assistance from the refs, moved from their own 24 to the Steelers’ 36 and still had 1:24 left. 

They would work it down to the Steelers’ one with 25 seconds left. On first and goal, Goff completed a touchdown pass to a wide-open Amon-Ra St. Brown for the go-ahead touchdown. I was defeated…until the “flag” graphic came across my screen. They cut to Steelers’ receiver on the sideline, who was making the offensive pass interference gesture to a group of Lions’ fans nearby. He was right. The refs adjudicated that Isaac TeSlaa interfered with the defense’s ability to cover St. Brown, thus allowing him to be so wide open. It was a soft call, but it was owed to the Steelers after the bullshit that preceded it. 

Immediately following the ten-yard penalty, there was a false start. Detroit went from first-and-goal from the one to first-and-goal from the sixteen. They gained seven on first to set up second-and-goal from the nine. That was followed by back-to-back incompletions. 

Fourth-and-goal from the nine, eight seconds left, down five, it was the Lions’ last chance. The Steelers’ defense needed to make a stand. Goff threw a pass to St. Brown right before the goal line, and he was stopped short and pushed back four yards. I waited for forward progress to be ruled. It was not. Instead, St. Brown lateraled the ball to Goff, who took it himself and found the end zone, albeit with a yellow marker on the turf. 

The referees gathered. The fans inside Ford Field waited with bated breath, as did many millions on their couches. 

They waited…and waited…and waited…

“CAN SOMEONE JUST MAKE A FUCKING DECISION?” I yelled, getting antsy, wanting a ruling on the final play of the game. 

Carl Cheffers finally turned on his microphone, declaring that, despite Goff having scored a touchdown, St. Brown committed pass interference, thus negating the scoring play and ending the game. The Steelers won 29-24. 

Before anyone says anything, the call was correct. St. Brown trucked Jalen Ramsey, even though Ramsey embellished the contact. Also, his forward progress should have been stopped well before the lateral to Jared Goff, as he was initially stopped at the one and did not pitch the ball until he was driven back to the five. 

My stomach was a mess after the game, but it certainly would have been worse had the referees decided the touchdown would stand. Now, the Steelers just need a win against Cleveland or a Ravens loss in Green Bay next weekend to clinch the AFC North. 

What a week of football. It was nice to be on the winning end of an instant classic, one of many that occurred in the past few days. Let us prepare for a Ravens hate-watch on Saturday.