PITTSBURGH — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions in their 16-16 tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday.
Quarterback
Rainy conditions and the oblique injury he suffered in the first quarter were contributing factors, but Jared Goff had his worst passing day in more than two years. Goff was injured when he underthrew an open Kalif Raymond on a pass that should have gone for a touchdown. He was 2-for-3 passing for minus-1 yard in the first quarter, had 11 yards passing at halftime and 54 in regulation. He missed a throw to D’Andre Swift in the flat, almost threw a pick on a tight end screen to T.J. Hockenson and had an interception nullified by penalty in overtime. Give Goff credit for gutting through his injury, but had the Lions any semblance of a passing attack, they would have won their first game this year. Grade: D
CARLOS MONARREZ: Why the Lions look much better after the bye
JEFF SEIDEL: Even a tie is progress, especially with a functional running game
SUNDAY’S GAME: Detroit Lions don’t lose, in comedy of errors
Running backs
Jermar Jefferson suffered an ankle injury early Sunday that left D’Andre Swift to shoulder the biggest workload of his career. Swift ran 33 times for 130 yards and was targeted on six of Goff’s 25 passes. He showed patience running against a defense locked on his every move, and had a few tone-setting runs early when he initiated contact. Swift did drop a screen pass early in the third quarter, though the pass was slightly behind him, and he had another drop in overtime, but he had a standout day overall. Jefferson (three carries, 41 yards) scored on a 28-yard run, Godwin Igwebuike made a nice cutback on his 42-yard touchdown and Jason Cabinda converted a fourth-and-1 run and had a key block on Swift’s 10-yard scamper on fourth-and-1 before halftime. Grade: A
Receivers/tight ends
It is tough to judge the Lions receiving corps on a day when Goff attempted only a handful of passes beyond the line of scrimmage in regulation, though their blocking contributed to the Lions’ season-best 229-yard rushing day. Amon-Ra St. Brown had a team-high 61 yards on four catches, but he couldn’t hold off a blocker on a second-and-1 swing pass to Swift that went for a 3-yard loss. Tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Brock Wright also were crucial to the Lions’ rushing performance. Brock did get beat for a third-quarter sack by T.J. Watt, a one-on-one matchup that he’s going to lose 99 times out of 100. And Hockenson had a costly holding penalty in overtime that cost the Lions field position on Ryan Santoso’s missed game-winning field goal attempt. Grade: C
Offensive line
Taylor Decker was a bit rusty in his return from finger surgery, but his presence — and the offensive line shuffle it allowed — was a big part of the Lions’ huge rushing day. Decker was penalized twice, for a false start in the second half and a hold (that was declined) in overtime, when he allowed a pressure that led to a sack. Jonah Jackson also had a false start on the Lions’ first offensive play. But the line played three mostly dominant quarters against a good Steelers front, with Matt Nelson playing extensively as a sixth lineman. Jefferson’s run came behind an overloaded left side, behind Decker, Nelson and Wright, and Nelson had the big block on Swift’s 15-yard run in the second quarter. Jackson, Nelson and Penei Sewell had the key blocks on Igwebuike’s TD run, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai made the key pulling block on Swift’s 12-yard pickup on third-and-9. It was a good day up front overall. Grade: A-minus
Defensive line
The Lions did a fair job bottling up Najee Harris, who ran for 105 yards but did not have a gain longer than 12 yards, but they got little pass rush on a day Mason Rudolph had 50 pass attempts. Even accounting for Rudolph’s quick trigger and the sloppy field conditions, the Lions need more from their front. Nick Williams and John Penisini missed chances to bring Rudolph down on a long scramble, and Michael Brockers and Trey Flowers had offsides penalties. The Lions did stymie the Steelers’ shovel-pass game, with Flowers and Charles Harris identifying and playing two passes to perfection. And Julian Okwara made a nice interception in coverage. Grade: B
Linebackers
Missed tackles were an issue, with Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Alex Anzalone having one each on the game’s opening drive and Anzalone missing another on Harris in the fourth quarter, which moved the Steelers an extra 5 yards closer on Chris Boswell’s 51-yard field goal make. Reeves-Maybin was flagged for a late hit and Anzalone seemed out of place on Harris’ 12-yard run. Both, at least, seemed to be on top of their assignments as they signaled they knew what play was coming when the Lions stopped a third-and-goal pass to Pat Freiermuth in the flat. Grade: C
Defensive backs
The Lions’ secondary had a brutal opening series. A.J. Parker bit on a fake bubble screen on a pass to Ray-Ray McCloud that led to a first down, Amani Oruwariye was called for pass interference on third-and-3, and the Lions had a miscommunication on Rudolph’s 9-yard touchdown pass to James Washington, when Parker passed Washington off to Jerry Jacobs, who ran with another Steelers receiver. Tracy Walker (seven tackles) had a big hand in the Lions’ gang tackling efforts on Harris before he left with a brain injury, and Will Harris forced a key fumble late to preserve the tie. Oruwariye also had a pass breakup in the end zone and made a nice play to stop a bubble screen for a 2-yard loss. But the Lions were lucky Rudolph was playing instead of Ben Roethlisberger because the fill-in quarterback missed several open receivers. Grade: C-minus
Special teams
Santoso, playing in place of the injured Austin Seibert, missed a game-winning 48-yard field goal try on the Lions’ second possession of overtime, a low line-drive kick that did not have enough distance. He also missed an extra point in the third quarter. KhaDarel Hodge was flagged for holding on a punt return and Jack Fox had an uncharacteristically mediocre day punting, netting 37 yards on his 10 punts. On the bright side, Igwebuike and Raymond had nice returns. Grade: D
Coaching
Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling duties for the first time this season and the change seemed to help the Lions’ struggling offense. Campbell did not seem to miss anything from a game management standpoint with the extra duties, though that will be something to watch. He made the right decision to go for a fourth-and-1 in Steelers territory, even on a day when offense was hard to come by, and I like the fact that he played for the win late, despite the Lions’ chances of winning appearing bleak. He didn’t want the tie, and seemed comfortable taking the loss if that fell that way by at least giving his team a chance. The Lions did have a 12-men-on-the-field penalty on defense and you can debate the merits of keeping Goff in despite his injury on a day they Lions could not throw the ball at all. The Lions offense stalled in the fourth quarter and overtime, but in their first game after the bye, and as sloppy as it got late, at least they put forth a complete effort. Grade: B-plus
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.