Don’t think things can get any weirder than what happened Sunday. At least, I sure hope not. Let’s dive in.
– Of course, we have to start with the score, a 16-16 tie. It’s only the third game to ever end in a 16-16 tie and the first since October 28th, 1973 when the Cleveland Browns and San Diego Chargers played to that same score.
– It’s the Steelers first tied game since their 2018 opener against the Browns and their first at home since 2002 against Atlanta, the equally-wacky 34-34 game that ended at the one-yard line. It’s the second tie ever against the Detroit Lions, joining a 10-10 finish in 1959.
– The Lions last tie came not longer ago either, back in 2019 against the Arizona Cardinals.
– Since 2018, there has now been five NFL games to end in ties. Three of them involve either the Lions or Steelers or both.
– Despite the overtime, Jared Goff threw for just 114 yards Sunday. Of QBs with 20+ attempts (Goff had 25), it’s the fewest amount of passing yards since Doug Williams had 103 in a 1980 tie against the Green Bay Packers.
– Detroit’s 77 net passing yards is the fewest in a tie game since the Cleveland Browns in 1973…which as we noted above, is also the last 16-16 NFL tie.
– Mason Rudolph had 50 attempts today, the most in his career. It’s the most he’s had in a game since November 18th, 2017, when he threw the ball 53 times in a loss to Kansas State.
– Pittsburgh’s 229 yards allowed on the ground Sunday are the most against a non-Baltimore/Lamar Jackson led team since 2017 when the Jags and Leonard Fournette put up 231 on them.
– WR Ray-Ray McCloud had nine receptions today. That’s the most catches he’s had in a game, college or pro. Previous high was eight down twice at Clemson, most recently in 2016 against Georgia Tech.
– In Steelers’ history, their kickers have made 41 field goals from 50+ yards. Chris Boswell is responsible for 15 of them, or 36.6%. More than one-third of them.
– Detroit came into this game ranked dead last in red zone defense at 83%, allowing a TD on 20 of 24 drives. Pittsburgh went just 1-3 inside the red zone Sunday.
– Here’s a really wild one. Mason Rudolph’s 26-yard run is the longest run of any Steeler this season. Try to wrap your brain around that one.
It’s the team’s longest run since December of last year when Benny Snell went for 29.
– Finally, there were a combined 70 rushing attempts in this Steelers/Lions game. That’s the most in any NFL game since 2015 when the Bucs and Eagles had just as many (that game didn’t go to overtime though). The last game that had more than 70 total rushes occurred in 2006 between the St. Louis Rams and Washington Redskins. That game did go into OT and they combined for 77 rushes.
