Author: Paula Pasche

DETROIT — The Lions’ offense gained plenty of yards on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense which was second-rated in the NFL.

It didn’t matter.

Matthew Stafford and the Lions’ offense accumulated 482 yards (411 passing) in the 20-15 loss to the Steelers on Sunday night at Ford Field.

Those gaudy offensive numbers were useless because the Lions could not score a touchdown. The 15 points were courtesy of Matt Prater’s five field goals.

According to Pro Football Reference, the Lions’ offensive effort of 482 yards ranks third all-time in NFL for most yards without a touchdown in a game. No. 1 was San Francisco with 501 yards versus Washington in 1986 and second was Cincinnati with 496 yards versus Seattle in 1994.

Yikes. Not exactly a record you want to break.

“Couldn’t execute (in the red zone). We were close on a lot of plays whether I missed a throw or we didn’t catch a ball or whatever it is. It’s obviously frustrating to get down there and not come away with points twice,’’ Stafford said.

The Lions have lost three straight and now hold a 3-4 record. It was their third straight home loss.

Five reasons the Lions lost:

1. They were 0-for-5 in the red zone. Three times they settled for field goals but twice they got nothing. Zip, zilch, nada.

In the third quarter they got to the Steelers’ 4-yard line after a 23-yard catch by TJ Jones. On first-and-goal, Dwayne Washington got stopped less than a yard from the goal line. Then an incomplete pass to Marvin Jones was followed by a Washington run for no gain.

They went for it on fourth-and-1. “We had a pass play called, they dropped a lot of guys into coverage, thought I had a stop to step up and make a play and their guys did a good job rallying and tackling me,’’ said Stafford who was sacked for a one-yard loss.

Then in the fourth quarter, when they were losing 20-15, Stafford checked into a draw play for Theo Riddick on third-and-5 from the Steelers’ 6. He was stuffed, losing two yards. Stafford made the decision because the Steelers had dropped eight in coverage.
“We just didn’t execute it well and that’s on me to get everybody on the same page,’’ Stafford said.

On the next play they went for it on fourth-and-7. Stafford’s attempted pass to Eric Ebron was broken up by Ryan Shazier. That was basically the ball game with 1:54 left.

2. The run game struggled again, combining for 71 yards. Ameer Abdullah had 27, Theo Riddick has 21 and Dwayne Washington 12 yards on six carries.

Coach Jim Caldwell was defensive when asked why Washington, who had missed the last four games due to injury, is the power back. He’s their best option but was not good in the red zone. No one was.

“It’s annoying because, I mean, we’ve got a good kicker, but we’ve got a good offense too. We’ve got to score,’’ Abdullah said. “We’ve got guys that can score. We’ve got guys who, if we put them in the right position, they can make big plays for us down there. We’ve just got to find a way to do that.”

3. Detroit was 2 of 12 (17 percent) on third downs. In comparison, the Steelers were 7 of 14 (50 percent). Enough said.

4. Mistakes, miscues, you name it. You can’t pin this all on tight end Eric Ebron but he was targeted six times and caught just two — one was for 44 yards. Still he has to be more consistent. He knows that, everyone at Ford Field knew that.

Even the sure-handed Golden Tate caught a pass and then the ball slipped out of his arms and was recovered by the Steelers. “That was a great play by everybody but me. It got away from me, I don’t know what it was, if I was thinking about my next move. I have to hold onto the play. This team looks to me to make plays,’’ Tate said.

5. This loss can’t be pinned on the defense but they can take their share of the blame. They had a lousy start on the Steelers’ opening play on their first drive, a 41-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to JuJu Smith-Schuster.. And then there was the 97-yard pass play from Roethlisberger to Smith-Schuster in the third quarter that put the Steelers up 20-12.

“I don’t know, (Smith-Schuster) just made some catches. He got put in some good situations and he just made some plays for them,’’ safety Glover Quin said. “We go into a game, you know, if they’ve got a top receiver like that (Antonio Brown), you want to force the next guy to do that. He did.”

Quin intercepted Roethlisberger and also recovered a fumble.

Running back Le’Veon Bell was held to 76 rushing yards after rushing for more than 300 yards in the past two games combined.

DETROIT — Golden Tate is a go for the Detroit Lions tonight as they face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night football at Ford Field.

Tate banged up his shoulder two weeks ago in the loss at New Orleans. He had limited practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and was listed as questionable for tonight’s game on Friday’s injury report.

Wide receiver Jace Billingsley will be active for the first time in his career.

Defensive end Ezekiel Ansah (knee) is active after being listed as questionable.  Ansah was limited in practice all week

Linebacker Paul Worrilow (knee) is out for his third straight game. He was listed as questionable and had full practices on Thursday and Friday.

Other Detroit inactives who are not injured: Running back Zach Zenner, running back Tion Green and cornerback Teez Tabor

Wide receiver Kenny Golladay (hamstring), tackle Greg Robinson (ankle) and tackle Emmett Cleary (ankle) were ruled out on Friday.

Lions punter Sam Martin makes his first start this season after missing all of training camp and the season with a non-football related ankle injury.

Steelers inactives: QB Joshua Dobbs, DE Stephon Tuitt, T Marcus Gilbert, TE Vance McDonald, WR Martavis Bryant, T Jerald Hawkins and CB Brian Allen.

Pittsburgh has won eight of the last nine matchups and four straight.

The Lions are 3-0 coming off the bye week with Jim Caldwell as coach and have won the last five coming off the bye.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off two straight wins. They have the NFL’s second-best defense and the offense is generated by two guys who are tough to stop — running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown.

A win on Sunday night for the Detroit Lions, who have lost two consecutive games, is a tall order, but not impossible.

Under Jim Caldwell, the Lions are 3-0 coming off bye weeks. They’re rested and ready now. They needed the week off to heal and to take a good look at the first six weeks.

“Just based off the trend of the last few years I’ve been here and Coach Caldwell it seems like we always trend up in the second half of the season and that’s the plan,’’ wide receiver Golden Tate said. “We’re going to start playing our best football real soon and maintain that week in and week out. This division is wide open and there’s a lot of season left. That’s what we’re eyeing right now taking our division, one game at a time.’’

The Vikings (5-2) are atop the NFC North, with the Packers at 4-3, the Lions at 3-3 and the Bears in the basement at 3-4.

Five things to watch in the Lions-Steelers match-up on Sunday night:

1. The consensus seems to be that Steelers’ running back Le’Veon Bell is unlike any other. “I’ve been trying to see if I could remember someone that has a running style like his, and I cannot. I cannot place a guy that has the ability he has. He’s very patient with exception of vision, and he can start and stop, and hit it into third and fourth gear in a hurry. He’s an unusual guy, really. I mean just pretty special,’’ coach Jim Caldwell said. Bell has 313 rushing yards in the past two games. (Ameer Abdullah has 342 for the season.) The Lions’ rush defense has been erratic in the first six games. They held the Panthers’ offense to 28 rushing yards one week and then the next allowed the Saints to run for 193 yards.

2. Antonio Brown is among the NFL’s elite wide receivers, leading the NFL in receiving yards with 765. Tackling him after he catches the ball is as important as the coverage. “It always is. We want to limit — we know people in this league, we have good players, and they’re going to catch the ball, and the quarterback is going to make really good throws and our job is, as defenders is OK, hey they’ve made that part of the play, let’s not let him get any extra. So, that’s going to be extremely important,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “Tackling, angles, pursuit, are going to be extremely important this week and not just with him, but — It’s always important, but especially with a guy like him in the open field who is dangerous, same thing with the running back (Bell).”

3. Matthew Stafford must have his best game. For him to accomplish that, he must get protection from the line, tight ends, backs, whoever, to stay upright and get the ball down the field. He’s been sacked 17 times in the last three games. “My job is to go back there and trust (the offensive line) every time. As a quarterback, that’s what you’re ingrained to do. I can be better in getting the ball out a little bit quicker and helping everybody out, but for those guys I think it’s just reps together are important, and they do everything they can whoever’s in there every week to try and get as many as they can,’’ Stafford said.

4. The wide receivers have to get open so Stafford can get them the ball. This is another reason the quarterback has been sacked so often. Sometimes he has nowhere to go with the ball.

5. Try something different with the run game because it has to be more effective. Along with Abdullah, perhaps it’d be wise to get Theo Riddick and Zach Zenner more involved. Zenner seems to be the best bet when it comes to short-yardage situations. Riddick has been pretty much a non-factor so far with 39 rushing yards and 180 receiving yards and a touchdown. Don’t be surprised to see Abdullah and Riddick on the field together more often.

PREDICTION: Steelers 27, Lions 20. Pittsburgh’s defense will be too much for Detroit’s offense.