By Moses Joshua 
Detroit’s season unraveled in familiar ways against Pittsburgh, leaving little doubt about what — and who — failed when it mattered most.
When the Detroit Lions took the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. Win, and the postseason dream stays alive. Lose, and the margin for error all but disappears.
By the time the clock hit zero on a 29–24 defeat, Detroit wasn’t just facing another loss — it was staring at the reality that its postseason fate had likely been sealed. And while the box score tells part of the story, the deeper truth emerges when you break down who came up short… and who didn’t.
Loser No. 1: Kelvin Sheppard and a Defense in Denial
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard entered the week confident — perhaps overly so — in his unit’s ability to stop the run.
“You can’t play this game of taking plays away, but nobody, and I can stand on the table behind this, nobody has just lined up and ran the ball down our throats,” Sheppard said earlier in the week.
“They popped an explosive run here and there… take that out alone, they’re standing at 4.0 a carry, which is—around this league in the NFL—that’ll sit you right around the top-10 and right where you want to be.”
Those words aged poorly.
The Steelers — armed with one of the least imposing running back groups in the league — gashed Detroit for 230 rushing yards. There was no resistance, no adjustment, and no answer. Yes, injuries in the secondary have forced Sheppard to reshuffle personnel weekly, but the lack of push up front in a must-win game is impossible to excuse.
Defending a struggling run defense only to watch it collapse under the brightest spotlight put Sheppard squarely in the crosshairs. With a Christmas Day matchup looming, the fixes may be coming too late to matter.
Loser No. 2: An Overmatched Offensive Line
The Lions knew they were in trouble up front before kickoff.
Without Graham Glasgow and Kayode Awosika, Detroit leaned on Kingsley Eguakun and Michael Niese to hold the line. It didn’t work. Not even close.
The run game never got going, and Jared Goff absorbed nine hits and three sacks — all without T.J. Watt even suiting up for Pittsburgh. From the opening drive, protection issues dictated the offense and limited what Detroit could do schematically.
It was another reminder that injuries have quietly drained the Lions of their physical identity, and with the postseason slipping away, it’s fair to wonder how aggressive Detroit will be in pushing injured linemen back onto the field over the final two games.
Loser No. 3: Amon-Ra St. Brown in a Moment That Mattered
There’s no denying the frustration surrounding officiating in recent weeks. From the phantom touchdown awarded to the Rams in Week 15 to the chaotic ending in this game, Lions fans have every right to feel fed up.
But accountability still matters.
In a pivotal moment — a potential game-sealing touchdown — Amon-Ra St. Brown committed an unmistakable push-off. The play resulted in a score… that never counted.
St. Brown isn’t the reason Detroit lost. A defense that couldn’t stop a nosebleed and an offense without a run game set the stage. Still, in that moment, the Lions needed discipline, not desperation. The margin for error was zero, and St. Brown crossed it.
The One Bright Spot: Jared Goff
If there was a familiar script waiting to unfold, it involved Jared Goff faltering late. That narrative has followed him since his days in Los Angeles, and it lingers no matter how well he plays.
Against Pittsburgh, he refused to follow it.
Goff led Detroit deep into the red zone on a potential game-winning drive. He nearly connected with Isaac TeSlaa for a touchdown. He finished a lateral play in the end zone that was wiped out due to penalty. And through it all, he stayed clean.
364 passing yards. Three touchdowns. Zero turnovers.
Goff did everything a quarterback could do in that moment — and still walked off the field with a loss. His recent stretch has been quietly excellent, buried beneath defensive collapses and injury-related failures elsewhere on the roster.
The Bigger Picture
This loss wasn’t about one play, one call, or one player. It was a culmination of issues that have lingered for weeks — a run defense that talks better than it plays, an offensive line stretched beyond its limits, and a team that can’t afford even the smallest mistake.
The Lions didn’t just lose to the Steelers. They lost control of their destiny.
And in the cruel math of December football, that may have been the moment the season slipped away.