The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to prove that making the right decisions don’t have to look pretty as they beat the Detriot Lions 20-15 in a Sunday Night Matchup at Heinz Field.
Characteristic of a 2017 Steelers team, they didn’t take advantage of all of their scoring opportunities, they made the ones that mattered which included throwing the ball to rookie WR JuJu Smith-Shuster who had a huge night as he caught 7 passes for a game-high 193 yards and a TD, which was a franchise record 97 yards. The previous record was 95 by former Steeler WR Mike Wallace in 2011. Smith-Shuster’s TD came in the 3rd quarter and helped extend the Steelers lead to 20-12. The other TD came on a 5-yard TD run by Le’Veon Bell to give the Steelers a 10-6 lead. Bell finished with 76 yards on 25 carries. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed for 317 yards, a TD, and an interception.
But it was the defense who made the lead stand. This unit didn’t give up a TD as they shut down the Lions on 4th downs 3 times in the game, and twice in the Red Zone. They also sacked Lions QB Matt Stafford (27/45, 423 yards) twice (including DE Cam Heyward’s team-leading 5th sack) and K Chris Boswell had 2 field goals. Lions K Matt Praeter kicked 5 field goals in the game.
The Steelers are now 6-2, still, AFC North leaders and will have a bye next week.
Pittsburgh 20, Detroit 15
Oct. 29, 2017
Post-Game Notes
TEAM
- Pittsburgh is 6-2 (4-1 on the road) and 2-1 against NFC teams in 2017.
- The Steelers have won each of their previous three games, dating back to Oct. 15, 2017 at Detroit.
- The Steelers are 17-14-1 in regular-season history against the Lions (6-12 on the road) and 2-0 at Ford Field.
- The Steelers have won each of its previous five regular-season meetings against the Lions.
- Pittsburgh improved to 4-1 in regular-season games against Detroit in the month of October (3-1 on the road in the month).
- The Steelers improved to 25-20 on Sunday Night Football (14-13 on the road).
- Pittsburgh has won each of its last seven Sunday Night Football games, dating back to Dec. 15, 2013.
- The Steelers are 450-284-2 during the regular season since 1970.
- www.steelers.com
In other NFL Scores: In London, Minnesota beat Cleveland 33-16, extending the Browns record to 0-8, Cincinnati beat Indianapolis 24-23, on Thurday, Baltimore beat Miami 40-0, Buffalo extends their record to 5-2 after beating Oakland 34-14, New England improved their record to 6-2 after beating the Los Angeles Chargers 21-13, New Orleans beat Chicago 20-12, Atlanta beat the NY Jets 25-20, Philadelphia extends their record to an NFL-leading 7-1 after beating San Francisco 33-10. The 49ers are now 0-8. Carolina beat Tampa Bay 17-3, Seattle beat Houston in a 41-38 shootout. Rookie QB DeShaun Watson passed for 402 yards and 4 TDs and Dallas beat Washington 33-19.
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