The Steelers tie with the Lions leads to several oddities

Grounded air attack

Detroit’s rushing performance in Sunday’s game meant the Lions did not pass the ball a whole lot. Jared Goff ended the game with only 77 passing yards. That total is the least the Steelers defense has allowed since a 12/30/2018 game against the Bengals. The last time they held the lions 77 or less was 12/23/2001.

Just Bizzare

The Steelers, in their franchise rivalry, have held the Lions to 77 yards or less passing yards six times. Of those six games, three of them have been exactly 77 yards in 2021,2001, and 1942. In the 1940, 1948, and 1952 games, they held the Lions to 70 or fewer passing yards.

With A Little Help from the zebras

While the Steelers avoided the loss Sunday, one can argue it potentially came with the help of the officials. On the first drive when Mason Rudolph hit James Washington for the touchdown, Chukwuma Okorafor clearly moved before Kendrick Green snapped the ball by perhaps a quarter of a second maybe, yet the entire officiating crew missed it. As a result, the Steelers walked away with a tie instead of a loss. Blown calls generally are not much for an odd stat, but perhaps one can say this missed call was a bit of karma for the Steelers.

In 2018 Phillip Rivers victimized the Steelers for a touchdown in the first quarter; however, the offensive lineman for the Chargers clearly false-started; even the commentators of the game could not believe the refs missed the call; it was so blatantly obvious. As a result, they lost 33-30. So the Steelers caught a lucky break in this game in part, making up for the 2018 loss of a similar noncall.