The Steelers tie with the Lions leads to several oddities

While disappointing in some respects, the Steelers game with the Lions ended up being a wild game and led to many oddities, as one might expect.  

The most notable aspect of the game is that it ended in a tie, and it was the 19th tie in Steelers’ history Pittsburgh’s first tie since 2018 when they tied the Browns. Narrowing overtime games to matchups with the Lions, the tie with the Lions is s the first since 11/8/1959 when they played to a 10-10 tie. However, there was no overtime in that game.

So the last actual overtime game with the Lions goes back to 11/26/1998, in which the Steelers lost. However, if you recall, the 1998 overtime game made NFL history and led to a rule change, the infamous coinflip rule change. Jerome Bettis supposedly called tails while the coin was in the air, but the ref, Phil Luckett, thought he said heads. The Steelers lost the toss and the game because the Lions kicked a field goal on their first overtime possession, edging the Steelers 19-16. As a result of the botched call, all players must call heads or tails before the flip. The Steelers are 0-1-1 in all overtime games with the Lions.

Overtime Oddity

Here is where history gets weird for Pittsburgh when it comes to Steelers’ ties. Out of their 19 ties in franchise history, seventeen have come against NFC teams and only two against AFC opponents. Then add to that, all of the 17 ties have come against only eight teams, the Falcons, Bears, Cardinals, Lions, Giants, Eagles, Rams, and Washington.