DETROIT– A chaotic finish near the end of a chaotic season, that’s how it had to unfold, of course. It culminated with the Detroit Lions looking bewildered, wondering what happened to the touchdown they thought they’d just scored, what happened to their stirring rally, what happened to their stirring season?

Bewildering and befitting.

The Lions never got a grasp on Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers Sunday, their defense again never got a grasp on anyone, and now everything is slipping away. The final play will be frozen and framed in the Lions’ Museum of Misery, after they thought they’d pulled out a miraculous victory, only to learn it was a mirage.

In many ways, their hopes this season became a mirage, undone by breakdowns up and down both lines. The crushing blow was made worse by how the Steelers delivered it, running all over the Lions, bullying their way to a 29-24 victory Sunday. It was the season finale in Ford Field, and probably the finale overall. With the loss, the Lions dropped to 8-7 and their playoffs hopes plummeted to somewhere between 6-10%.

Rodgers didn’t do this to them, not by himself. The refs didn’t do it to them, although the late, critical calls were close. The Lions did this to themselves, as their defense kept disintegrating and finally collapsed, and their patchwork offensive line was physically whipped.

Painful words, surely. The raw truth hurts.

“I can’t argue with that,” Dan Campbell said. “I mean, look, the ground game says it.”

The Steelers outrushed the Lions 230-15, such a manhandling, they held the ball for more than 14 minutes in the third quarter, running 26 plays to the Lions’ 3. In the fourth quarter, Jaylen Warren ran for identical 45-yard touchdowns virtually untouched for a 29-17 lead. When needed, Rodgers showed the deft touch, carving up the Lions with quick, short passes to extend drives, finishing 27 for 41 for 266 yards.

Frustrating finish

And yet somehow, the Lions had a chance at the end, as Jared Goff finally got time and his receivers finally found room. Goff kept firing — 34 for 54 for 364 yards — and when he hit Jahmyr Gibbs with a 4-yard touchdown pass, it was 29-24 with 4:11 left.

After the Lions defense mustered a stop and the Steelers’ Chris Boswell missed a 37-yard field goal, the opportunity was still there, tantalizing. In the final two minutes, the game appeared to be won or lost several times. Goff’s fourth-down throw to Jameson Williams was knocked away, but the Steelers were called for pass interference. Under a minute to go, Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 24-yard gain, then hit rookie Isaac TeSlaa in stride for 11 yards to the Pittsburgh 1.

On the next play, Goff connected with St. Brown for an apparent 1-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left, but it was nullified by offensive pass interference on TeSlaa. Of all the bizarre circumstances at the end, that was the only call you could really question.

The Lions worked it back to fourth-and-goal from the 9, eight seconds remaining. The crowd, which had started to thin when the Lions trailed by 12, was up and roaring as Goff took the snap. He fired a pass on the left to St. Brown, who caught it just outside the end zone. As he was being tackled, he instinctively lateraled the ball back to Goff, who ran it in from the 8, leaping for the would-be winning touchdown as the clock expired.

The crowd erupted, then groaned. There was a flag. Followed by mass confusion. Followed by, believe it or not, the correct interpretation by the officials.

St. Brown indeed had pushed off on Jalen Ramsey to get open, offensive pass interference. But the play continued and the touchdown was scored, and the officials huddled for several minutes to figure it out. As referee Carl Cheffers began to announce the verdict, both teams’ seasons hung in the balance, the drama ratcheted by the confusing explanation.

“The ruling on the field is touchdown,” Cheffers said and the fans cheered, just briefly. “However, pass interference on the offense. The game is over. (Pause). There is no touchdown.”

A game doesn’t continue on an offensive penalty, so indeed it was over. Mike Tomlin, Rodgers and the rest of the Steelers ran off the field, and the Lions were forced to accept a brutal fate.

“It’s frustrating, I was proud of the way we fought our way back,” Campbell said. “We weren’t able to close it out, and at the end of the day, that’s on us. We’re the ones who put ourselves in that position where we had to try to score on the last play. It was just too little, too late.”

Luck runs out

The final play will take its spot in Lions’ lore, another crazy twist. But the reality is, the Lions have stayed alive much of the season with stealthy escapes, unable to sustain much. After three years, they finally lost back-to-back games. And now they haven’t won back-to-back games in 11 weeks.

The Steelers piled up 481 total yards, almost as many the Rams did a week ago (519) in a 41-34 victory. The Lions’ 15 yards rushing was the fourth-lowest total in their modern history, as Gibbs gained 2 yards on seven carries.

The Lions play at Minnesota on Christmas Day, then close at Chicago. To land a wild-card berth, they need to win both and hope Green Bay loses its final two, home to the Ravens and at Minnesota. There’s technically something to play for, just not as much as the Lions always envisioned.

“We’ll find out who we are, character-wise,” Goff said. “We know the percentages and whatnot. We know we’re not eliminated, but we need some things to go our way. … See if we can win these last two and get in. I know we’ll be dangerous if we can. That’s just the hard part.”

There were no excuses for the Lions, or from the Lions, who couldn’t outrun glaring mistakes and mounting injuries. They were playing their eighth different offensive line combination, and their secondary has been on constant shuffle since losing star safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph. Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard’s search for solutions has been fruitless, which is concerning.

But the Steelers (9-6) also were playing for their playoff lives, also wracked with injuries on their offensive and defensive lines, missing their two best pass rushers, T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig.

“We’ve lived this (injuries) for three years, we should be better than that,” Campbell said. “We’ve got to get our guys ready. Every team’s got injuries in this league.”

The Lions’ identity, built around power in the trenches, gradually diminished, through injuries and lack of production from key players. For now, it’s barely recognizable, with the Lions reduced to a finesse team hunting for splash plays.

Campbell knows the playoff chances are miniscule, but if it’s unattainable, he wants to see something. He needs to see something.

“I just want to see us play with our identity, with what we are and what we’re about,” Campbell said. “We’re big boys in this league, man. You pull your pants up and you go to work. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting, but we have nobody to blame but ourselves.”

For various reasons, the Lions lost their way. They needed a near-miracle to have a shot in this one, and they’ll need more near-miracles the rest of the way. Fans will lament the chaotic conclusion and squandered opportunities, but the truth is, seeds of disappointment have been growing for a while.

____

©2025 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.