By: Michael Niziolek
The Detroit Lions sold out Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field, but it was evident from all the terrible towels that many of those tickets were purchased by Steeler fans.
With three minutes and 30-yards to go the Lions looked like they had a golden opportunity to get a touchdown and send the game into overtime – a situation that should have the home crowd’s fans on their feet.
It wasn’t.
Thousands of Pittsburgh fans rallied and made Ford Field anything but enemy territory for the visiting Steelers helping them hold on to their lead and win 28-20.
“They traveled awesome today,” Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said. “It's spectacular to stand on the visiting sideline and see the fan support we had in this building today."
Hines Ward said the crowd definitely made a difference for the team, but wasn’t surprised at how many fans made the trip.
"We're Steeler nation,” Ward explained. “Wherever we travel, we travel well. Playing in the Super Bowl here brought back a lot of memories. We had just as many fans as we did back then, so that's what we love about playing for this organization.”
Daunte Culpepper started in place of the injured Matthew Stafford at quarterback and had problems with the Steelers defensive pressure. Culpepper was sacked seven times, four of those coming during the Lions critical final possession.
After the game Jim Schwartz talked about the offense not picking up the blitz in the final series…
“We didn't recognize it and ended up taking those sacks,” he explained. “In that situation where you got it right there, we've got to be able to throw that ball away, protect that, whatever we've got to do to avoid a sack right there. We can't give up a sack like that because that took us out of the chance that we had at the end of the game."
Losing Calvin Johnson in the first quarter to a leg injury hampered the Lions offense as well. It was the second consecutive game that the big play receiver was taken out with a leg problem, against Chicago Johnson injured his hamstring and left the game in the third quarter.
Derrick Williams and Dennis Northcutt stepped in and made some nice plays, but the 6’5’’ playmaker could have made a difference for Culpepper as he dealt with the heavy pressure from the Steelers defense.
The Lions will travel to Green Bay next week as they look to get a win before the bye week.
