LIONS VS. STEELERS: LIVE SCORE UPDATES, HIGHLIGHTS, NEWS
The Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers face off at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon. It’s both the first NFL action in Ford Field of the season, and the last preseason game on the Lions’ and Steelers’ schedule.
The two teams are in very different places in their franchise growth, and it’s not the dynamic we’re used to seeing between these two franchises.
The Lions will be using this game to figure out a few depth spots on their championship-level roster. Don’t expect to see any starters out there on Saturday.
The Steelers, on the other hand, have fallen a bit behind in the division—with the Ravens, Bengals, and Browns all seemingly having higher expectations in 2024. Additionally, the Steelers are in a bit of a transitionary period when it comes to their quarterback. Gone is first-round pick Kenny Pickett. Now Pittsburgh finds themselves in a quarterback battle between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. The Lions managed to beat both quarterbacks last year in Ford Field, so both will be looking to rebound in Detroit.
As for the Lions, there’s far less intrigue in the game, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t jobs on the line. As coach Dan Campbell said this week, there are still a handful of jobs open, and Saturday’s game represents the final opportunity to make a lasting impression.
This post will serve as a live-updating story from Ford Field. Below, we’ll have drive-by-drive analysis, highlights, score updates, and any injury news that happens during the game. Simply stay on this page and refresh throughout various points in the game. When the game comes to a close, this will turn into our full game recap.
Happy Saturday, and go Lions!
First quarter
The Steelers won the coin toss and opted to start on offense, give Detroit’s defense the first opportunity to shine in Ford Field.
It’s worth noting that the Steelers were playing their starters on offense, while the Lions had a mixture of second and third stringers.
To open the game, Jake Bates tried a line-drive kickoff, but again came up short of the landing zone, giving Pittsburgh the ball at the 40. The Lions quickly got into a third-and-11 thanks to a big tackle for loss by Brandon Joseph. But Russell Wilson had all day on the next play, and found a wide-open George Pickens for a big gain (Essang Bassey in coverage). Two plays later, Cordarrelle Patterson found a big hole up the middle for a 31-yard touchdown run. 7-0 Steelers
Hendon Hooker’s day started with a nice third-down pickup to Shane Zylstra. However, the next three plays were: sack, sack, sack fumble.
Justin Fields took over for the Steelers with the good field position. It only took him six plays to get Pittsburgh back in the endzone. Fields handed it to La’Mical Perine for a 1-yard touchdown. 14-0 Steelers.
Isaiah Williams breathed some life into the crowd with a 37-yard kickoff return to the 45-yard line. But the Lions offense couldn’t do anything with it, quickly going three-and-out.
The Lions defense finally stopped the bleeding, although they got some help. On third down, Fields couldn’t hold onto the snap, picked it up and took a sack via Ty Summers.
Hooker took over at the 20 and extended the drive early with a scramble on third-and-6. But the quarter ended with Hooker taking another sack—his fourth of the quarter.
Second quarter
The Lions offense couldn't get out of the hole from the first down sack and eventually punted back to Pittsburgh. But Fields would only move the chains a couple of times. On third-and-8, Summers came with another blitz and picked up his second sack of the game, ending Pittsburgh’s drive.
Detroit’s offense continued its struggles. After Hooker missed on a play action pass to Shane Zylstra, he took a sack on third down, and it was another three-and-out.
At this point, the Steelers finally started bringing in their reserves, including third-string quarterback Kyle Allen. Immediately, James Houston made his presence known.
That forced a quick punt, giving Hooker his fifth drive of the game. Finally, the Lions were able to get things moving. Jake Funk found rushing lanes for pickups of 10 and 15 yards. Isaiah Williams ran a beautiful route for a 17-yard gain. Hooker scrambled for 19, and then found Funk for a 2-yard touchdown pass. 14-7 Steelers.
Bates’ ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Steelers the ball at the 40-yard line again. But the Lions defense quickly got the ball back thanks to an Isaac Ukwu strip sack and Chris Smith recovery.
Hooker immediately struck with an 18-yard sliding catch from Kaden Davis to put Detroit in the red zone. A trio of Jermar Jefferson runs got Detroit into the end zone and tied the ballgame up with just 25 seconds left in the half. 14-14 tie.
Third quarter
Hooker would remain in the game for the Lions to start the second half. He started the drive with a nice 14-yard out to Zylstra, and extended the drive with his feet on a third-and-7. The Lions got into a fourth-and-1 situation in the red zone, but a Giovanni Manu false start spoiled their attempt to go for it. Subsequently, Jake Bates missed a 30-yard field goal to keep it tied.
The Steelers responded by taking the lead thanks to a 59-yard bomb to Dez Fitzpatrick with Steven Gilmore in coverage.
Detroit’s defense got a third-down stop in the red zone, mitigating the damage to just three points. 17-14 Steelers.
Hooker was picked off on the next possession after a pass went off the fingertips of Isaiah Williams and into the hands of former Lions cornerback Cam Sutton.
Detroit’s defense held strong, though, and forced a punt quickly, as the game turned over into the fourth quarter.
Fourth quarter
Hooker started the drive with a nice 29-yard pass to Maurice Alexander and a horse collar tackle gave the Lions an added 15 yards.
After another scramble from Hooker, Jermar Jefferson would eventually punch it in for a 7-yard touchdown run and a 21-17 Lions lead with 12:39 left.
Despite giving up a big return on the ensuing kickoff, the Lions defense got a quick three-and-out, thanks to a run stuff from Mitchell Agude on third-and-1 and a false start from Pittsburgh on a fourth down attempt.
Fourth string quarterback Jake Fromm surprisingly took over with 10 minutes left, despite coach Dan Campbell suggesting he wouldn’t play. Fromm’s day got off to a promising start with back-to-back passes to Tom Kennedy and Alexander for 10 and 14 yards, respectively. Then on third-and-11, he found Jalon Calhoun for another 21 yards, then again to Calhoun for 16. Fromm just missed Funk on a wheel route that would’ve gone for a touchdown. Instead, the Lions were faced with a fourth-and-2. They sent out Jake Bates for a 46-yard field goal and he drilled it to make it 24-17 Lions with 5:22 left.