DETROIT -- Older players are used to passing the torch to younger ones. But on this Sunday at Ford Field, it wasn't the torch being passed. It was the ball. Again and again and again.
And by the time Ben Roethlisberger finished connecting with rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster, the duo had hooked up seven times for 193 yards and a 97-yard touchdown that, coupled with the Steelers' defense stuffing five red-zone trips for the Lions, added up to a 20-15 victory.
That sent the Steelers into their bye week at 6-2, tied with the Patriots atop the AFC, and feeling a whole lot better about themselves than they would have had the Lions stolen this one.
"We’re 6-2. That’s all that matters," Cameron Heyward said. "We need to get better from here. I know it wasn’t perfect. But you’ve got to win games like this."
You do if you want home field advantage throughout the postseason, and the Steelers are setting themselves up. But it wasn't easy. And it most certainly wasn't pretty.
The game changed in a series of plays midway through the third quarter.
The Steelers were clinging to a 13-12 lead following a 38-yard Chris Boswell field goal, this after Antonio Brown had a touchdown wiped off the board when he was penalized for pass interference. Detroit's Matthew Stafford, who torched what was the NFL's top pass defense for 423 yards, maneuvered the Lions to first-and-goal at the Pittsburgh 4.
But the Steelers' defense, as it did throughout the game, came up with a stop. Dwayne Washington had a first-down carry to the 1. Stafford failed to connect with Marvin Jones with Robert Golden in coverage. And on third down, Javon Hargrave enveloped Washington like an amoeba for no gain.
The Lions, who had already failed on two previous trips inside the Pittsburgh 20, went for it on fourth down. And this time, it was Tyson Alualu, filling in for injured Stephon Tuitt, stopping Stafford for a 1-yard sack as he stepped up to try to run.
"That was amazing," Joe Haden said. "That’s our front seven. That’s all on them."
He hadn't seen anything amazing just yet. That came a few plays later after the Steelers took possession of the ball at their own 2.
Roethlisberger, who threw for 317 yards, missed Jesse James wide open down the middle of the field on second down.
"I thought we had that one," James told me. "But it set things up for JuJu on the next play."
That it did:
Smith-Schuster had a tumultuous week after being thrown under the bus on social media by teammate Martavis Bryant in the hours after the team's win over Cincinnati last Sunday, then having his bicycle -- his only mode of transportation -- stolen and returned. Now, he was about to ride free.
Lining up in the right slot, Smith-Schuster blew by Detroit's Quandre Diggs, sprinted straightaway into the open, and the 35-year-old Roethlisberger hit him in stride, after which he split the Lions' coverage and outraced three defenders for the longest touchdown pass in franchise history.
"They gave us a coverage where the safeties split wide and kind of a 22 man, and he had something similar to that earlier in the game and he tried to kind of juke the guy and give him an out move and then go up," Roethlisberger said. "I told him, ‘Listen, next time you get that look, if it’s a 22-type man, beat him with speed. Just get down there.’ And that’s what he did, and I threw it over the top. I told him I didn’t know he had that much speed. He said he didn’t know, either.”
Smith-Schuster had a career day in place of Bryant, who did not dress as punishment for his social media outburst. It was the second-most yardage by a receiver this season, as well as the most by any NFL player younger than 21.
"To be honest, the reason I kept looking back was because, on Madden, my speed is like 82, 83," Smith-Schuster said. "So I was like, ‘Nah, I think they’re going to catch me, they’re going to catch me.’ And then next, you know, I pulled away and I swerved to the right and I was able to get the touchdown.”
That would prove critical, because even when down by eight, the Lions kept coming. They again drove to the Pittsburgh 4 for a first-and goal situation early in the fourth quarter, but when Washington was stopped on second and third downs, the Lions sent Matt Prater out to kick his fifth field goal and cut the Steelers' lead to 20-15.
Stafford hit another long pass -- one of six of 25-plus yards for the Lions -- with a 34-yarder to Golden Tate on Detroit's next possession. But Tate fumbled right after the catch, and Artie Burns recovered at the Pittsburgh 24.
The Lions wouldn't stop. They had a first-and-10 from the Pittsburgh 11 with 2:55 remaining following a 44-yard catch-and-run by Eric Ebron. But one final time, the defense stood up. Stafford tried a pass into the end zone to Marvin Jones that Burns defended well. He found Tate for a 5-yard gain to the 6, but Theo Riddick was stopped for a 2-yard loss at the two-minute warning to set up fourth-and-7 from the 8.
This was it.
Stafford dropped back to pass, and Hargrave went to work on center Travis Swanson, driving him all the way into Stafford's face as he attempted a throw. Ryan Shazier stepped in front of the ball but couldn't hold on and the Steelers took over on downs, running out the clock.
"We gave up a lot of yards, but we definitely didn’t break," said Shazier. "I feel like it really helped us grow a bit. We played a great quarterback, man. He’s the highest paid in the league for a reason. He has the arm to throw the ball wherever he wants and it was just great to be able to stop him in the red zone and make them kick field goals because it gives our offense the opportunity to get the ball back and get seven instead of three.”
The Steelers did that throughout the game, scoring on a 34-yard Boswell field goal on their opening drive when Eli Rogers dropped a pass in the end zone on third down at the Detroit 16.
Their only other touchdown outside of the one from Smith-Schuster came on a 5-yard run by Le'Veon Bell late in the second quarter after a 44-yard catch from Antonio Brown.
Bell was limited to 76 yards on 25 carries, while Brown had five catches for 70. It was a so-so day for the Steelers stars.
This was a game for a young, emerging hero who had gone through what could have been a tough week after having been called out on social media by teammate Martavis Bryant, and then having his bicycle stolen and then recovered.
Smith-Schuster got his bike back. He got his first "official" start in place of a benched Bryant. And he got the team record for longest catch in team history -- breaking the mark set by Mike Wallace of 95 yards in 2011.
"There was nothing for him to respond to," head coach Mike Tomlin said of Smith-Schuster's week. "It didn’t affect him or involve him whatsoever. That guy has been working hard and doing his job. His playing reflected that tonight.”
It wasn't perfect. It wasn't pretty. But it was a victory. And the Steelers will take it.
“You know those guys, a hell of a team," Bell said after rushing for 76 yards on 25 carries. "So to get out of this place with a win, whether it’s pretty or not, is a great feeling.”
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY