There are no moral victories in a tie. And there certainly aren't any when that tie comes against an opponent that entered the game as the NFL's only remaining winless team.
Already down Ben Roethlisberger, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, forcing Mason Rudolph into action, the Steelers made enough mistakes in this one to fill a lowlight tape.
The result was a 16-16 tie against the Lions on a rain-soaked Heinz Field that while not quite a loss, also isn't a win.
"Ties suck," Cam Heyward said following 70 minutes of football that didn't result in a win for either team.
The Steelers (5-3-1) had an opportunity to move into first place in the AFC North with a victory after the Ravens lost Thursday night in Miami. They will have plenty of what ifs to look at after this one, many of which will deal with what has been a fabulous rookie class to this point.
What if rookie left tackle Dan Moore isn't called for a holding penalty in the second quarter on what would have been a seven-yard touchdown run by fellow rookie Najee Harris? That forced the Steelers to settle for a field goal and a 10-7 lead instead of a 14-7 advantage.
What if rookie defensive back Tre Norwood isn't called for roughing the passer with 5:45 remaining in overtime on a second-and-9 play that had resulted in an incompletion but instead pushed the ball to the Pittsburgh 34? It resulted in a missed field goal by the Lions, but not before Detroit advanced the ball to the Pittsburgh 28 before a holding penalty pushed the Lions back.
What if rookie center Kendrick Green, who had several bad snaps in the game, hadn't snapped one over Rudolph's head with 3:30 remaining in overtime as the Steelers faced second-and-6 from their own 42?
"That happens," said Rudolph, who completed 30 of 50 passes for 252 yards, one touchdown and one interception. "He's done a great job. That's never been an issue with Kendrick, so I don't expect that, but he is a young player, and obviously we're all dealing with those weather conditions, and it affects people differently."
That forced the Steelers to punt the ball back to the Lions with 2:25 left in overtime. The Steelers would get one last shot to win this one, but there was one final rookie mistake, this one by Pat Freiermuth, who caught a short pass from Rudolph on first-and-10 from the Detroit 39 with 15 seconds remaining. But as the tight end tried to get out of bounds, he lost the football, with the Lions recovering to secure the tie.
There would be no potential game-winning field goal attempt by Chris Boswell.
"He was trying to get out of bounds," Rudolph said. "And I thought that was our best opportunity to get a quick five, six (yards) and get out of bounds. He's a good player. Obviously (I) hurt for him. He's never had a ball security issue. It happens to all of us in those moments at times. Young player. He's a hard worker, and I know he's going to come back and attack this week. We all have things to correct, trust me. I have plenty of balls that I would like to have back. So does everyone on our offense."
That rookie class has been very good for the Steelers this season. But in this one, outside of Harris, who had 105 yards on 26 carries and four receptions for 28 more yards, it had a hiccup.
The defense, meanwhile, found itself unable to tackle much the same way it had a few weeks ago in a win over the Seahawks. Only this time around, instead of the missed tackles coming in the third quarter, they came in the second and extended into the opening possession of the second half.
If there was any doubt about Detroit's physicality, well take a look at this run to open the second half.
Detroit had six carries for 20 yards in the first quarter, but finished the first half with 16 carries for 114 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown run by Jermar Jefferson that tied the game at 7-7.
Then, on the opening drive of the second half, the Lions went 85 yards -- all on runs -- to take a 16-10 lead after missing the PAT on a 42-yard run by Godwin Igwebuike.
"To look up and see 199 yards rushing in the third quarter is not good," Heyward said.
Not at all. The Lions finished with 229 yards rushing. It marked just the ninth time since 1970 that Pittsburgh has yielded more than 200 yards rushing in a home game.
"There's a guy out of place or two there initially, but if you had to wrap it in a bow and talk about it globally or largely, we had to tackle better," Mike Tomlin conceded. "As the game went on, we did, and we were able to settle it down, but the damage was the damage."
The Lions gained only 30 rushing yards on their final 18 carries, with D'Andre Swift finishing with 33 attempts 130 yards, but to Tomlin's point, the damage was done, especially when the Steelers kept shooting themselves in the foot with mistakes.
Even the veterans weren't without their issues.
They lost the turnover battle 3-0, with perhaps the most damaging coming on a fumble by Diontae Johnson in overtime after a 39-yard catch-and-run into Detroit territory.
"I was just trying to make a play," Johnson said. "Like what everybody else would do in that situation: Get the ball like that, you try to make a play for the team, get them in good field position. I didn't see the guy coming behind me."
In the end, the many mistakes were just too plentiful to overcome.
"Just too sloppy to win," Tomlin said. "Core fundamental things: we didn't tackle well enough throughout the game defensively, and then in the most critical moments, we didn't maintain possession of the ball on offense. So we've got to accept responsibility for the outcome of the game, and we do."
• The Steelers found out Saturday that Rudolph would be forced to start with Roethlisberger out. And they apparently didn't change much with their game plan.
"It did not," said Tomlin when asked how much the plan changed with Rudolph at QB.
Well, not exactly.
We did see some rollouts and pocket movement, which you don't see much of when Roethlisberger is out there. But to Tomlin's point, it did look a lot like the plan for Roethlisberger. There were a lot of sideways throws and when the Steelers went down the field, it was down the sideline.
Rudolph was 1 for 3 on passes 20 yards or more downfield, with all three passes coming outside the hashes. He was 6 of 10 on passes between 10 and 20 yards downfield. But only two of those passes were to the middle of the field.
Rudolph was OK. There were some good moments, but there also were probably more bad ones, none more so than three straight misses on first-and-goal from the 5. The quarterback had just fired up the crowd with an 11-yard run on which he took a big hit from Lions corner Tracy Walker, who was concussed on the play and didn't return.
With each incompletion, Harris looked to the sideline, raising his hands in frustration.
The first play was a run-pass option. After that, the Steelers were just throwing. No runs against a team that entered the game having allowed 16 total touchdowns to opposing running backs this season, 10 rushing and six passing.
"We had a run-pass option on first down," Tomlin said. "They gave us a look. I think they had six defensive linemen in the game, and so we had an opportunity in the passing game. But when it's incomplete, it opens it up for that judgment, and so I own all of that."
The final pass was a ball Rudolph short-hopped to Ray-Ray McCloud, who was open just over the goal line.
"The glove kind of grabbed it a little bit there at the end," Rudolph said. "I've got to make that throw."
There were several throws that you'd expect Roethlisberger would have made. Rudolph is fine as a backup, but this was a great opportunity for him to perhaps put his stamp on this team for the future. And he did it in invisible ink.
• Is there a fractured relationship between Roethlisberger and his backup? Perhaps.
When asked if he received a phone call from Roethlisberger on Saturday night with any advice, Rudolph kind of stumbled.
"No," he said. "No, we did not communicate, no."
Huh? I get that Roethlisberger might have been disappointed with being ill. And maybe he was too sick to call. Maybe he fell asleep. But no communication whatsoever?
That's not a good look for Roethlisberger.
On the plus side, you apparently never have to worry about Roethlisberger and Rudolph passing COVID to each other. The Steelers try to keep their quarterbacks apart. And it seems that extends beyond the football field.
• The Lions were using a sixth offensive lineman effectively throughout this game, going with Matt Nelson as a tackle eligible. But there's no excuse to allow 229 rushing yards to a team that came into this game averaging 93.1 yards and hadn't gone for more than 137 yards in a game this season.
At the point the Lions had 199 rushing yards, Goff had thrown the ball eight times, completing 4 for 11 yards. There was no threat of a passing game.
Goff finished 14 of 25 for 114 yards, with 30 of that coming on the opening play of overtime on a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Minus their sack yardage, the Lions had 77 net passing yards.
In 2021, you're supposed to win a game in which you hold an opponent under 100 passing yards.
"We didn't do a good job of getting off blocks," Heyward said. "When they have an extra O-lineman, they take a receiver off the field. At the same time, we have to get off blocks, stay in our gaps and drive our feet."
And tackle the ball carrier.
• The worst part of overtime -- and the end of regulation for that matter -- was that the Steelers never got into position to give Boswell a chance to win it.
Boswell has been so good in those moments. But the Steelers just kept turning the ball over. Or Rudolph missed a throw.
The Steelers have been relying on their ability to not make the big mistake in close games. In this game, they made all of the mistakes.
The Lions, who had turned the ball over 11 times coming into this game, didn't have any. On a rain-soaked field, the team that plays its games in a dome ran 68 plays and didn't put a single ball on the ground.
Goff didn't throw an interception, though Minkah Fitzpatrick had one nullified in overtime on a defensive holding call on Devin Bush.
The Lions didn't do anything to hand the Steelers this game. And the Steelers didn't do anything to win it.
• The offensive line was a mess, but somehow came through it by paving the way for 145 rushing yards and not allowing Rudolph to be sacked.
Guards Kevin Dotson and Trai Turner both suffered ankle injuries, so much of the second half was played with J.C. Hassenauer and Joe Haeg at guard. Yet on 50 pass attempts, the Lions did not have a single quarterback hit.
With all of the injuries, the only offensive lineman not to see an offensive snap was Zach Banner, active for the first time this season. Perhaps the Steelers should have taken a page out of Detroit's playbook and run some tackle-eligible plays.
• A few weeks ago, I called the Steelers defensive line Cam Heyward and the Pips. Right now, the guys not named Heyward aren't even playing well enough to be the Pips. They're more like a junior high choral ensemble -- a couple of good notes, but an awful lot of bad.
• McCloud was the Steelers' leading receiver with nine catches. He was targeted 12 times. They produced 63 yards.
Any game plan that features McCloud is not a good one. Matt Canada might have been able to get away with the push passes to a player such as McCloud in college, but that's not consistently happening in the NFL. He just goes down too easily and isn't dynamic enough in open space to make it worthwhile.
And every time McCloud gets hit now, you expect him to cough the ball up, something he nearly did on a punt return in overtime.
The risk is never equal to the reward.
• The special teams coverage units have been pretty good this season. But not in this game.
In fact, a 50-yard punt return in the second quarter by Khalif Raymond gave the Lions life.
If you watch that return, the Steelers give up the sideline and then everyone is kind of jogging along, waiting for someone else to make the play. That's unacceptable.
The Lions didn't have a first down to that point and had gained 19 yards on nine plays. But that return gave them life and led to their first touchdown on a 39-yard drive.
• Bush had the most quiet eight tackles you'll ever see. But the fans' other target for criticism on defense, Terrell Edmunds, was pretty good in this game. In fact, it might be OK to say at this point that he's made a bigger impact this season than Fitzpatrick.
He and Bush did a nice job of keeping Lions tight end and leading receiver T.J. Hockenson quiet. He didn't have a catch and was targeted just once. So they get credit there.
But unlike Edmunds, Bush wasn't much of a factor in stopping the run. Edmunds had two tackles for a loss and a sack. Wouldn't it be nice to see Bush make a play like that every once in a while?
• This was a huge opportunity squandered. With the Ravens and Browns both losing this weekend, the Steelers had a chance to really gain ground in the AFC North.
Instead, they spun their wheels.
Would that have been different had Roethlisberger played? There's a good chance the answer is yes.
But having Roethlisberger available doesn't prevent the three fumbles -- two were recovered by the Lions -- from happening. It doesn't stop the defense from allowing more than 200 rushing yards.
Those were fundamental failures.
