DETROIT —In a split second, the result of Sunday's contest changed from a last-second Detroit Lions win to the Pittsburgh Steelers barely holding on for a massive road win .
Before a fourth-and-goal with eight seconds to go, the Lions trailed 29-24. Detroit quarterback Jared Goff took a snap from the Steelers' 9-yard line. He stepped up in the pocket before firing the ball to Amon-Ra St. Brown , who'd bowled into Steelers defensive back Jalen Ramsey , shoving him, before trailing off to his left.
St. Brown caught the ball at the 1-yard line and was promptly met by Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. , then by Ramsey. Yellow flags whizzed by before the latter yanked St. Brown turfward, but not before he underhanded the ball to Goff, who charged forward and dove into the end zone over Steelers safety Kyle Dugger.
After moments of deliberation, referee Carl Cheffers turned his mic on and made the announcement.
"The ruling on the field is a touchdown," Cheffers said, igniting the Ford Field crowd's elation. "However, pass interference, No. 14, on the offense. By rule, that penalty is not enforced and there is no replay. The game is over."
Celebration devolved into shock. The collective groan was music to Porter's ears.
"I love that sound," Porter said afterward. "I love that. Especially in stadiums like this, you wanna take the air out the crowd. You wanna get them quiet, and we did exactly that, so it was a great feeling."
"It's always good to be on the road and hear the crowd — well, not hear the crowd, really," Ramsey said . "Anything like that, yeah, they were salty."
Steelers tailback Jaylen Warren , who had a pair of 45-yard scoring sprints, just rode the wave.
"It took me about two minutes to figure out if we'd won or not," Warren said. "People on our side were celebrating, so I was just celebrating with them, hoping we won."
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin seemed to have never had a doubt. He said afterward that, upon hearing it was an offensive pass interference call, it "was gonna sort itself out."
Cam Heyward , Keeanu Benton and Ramsey weren't as sure, trying to talk to the officials. The Lions tried to get into their ears, as well.
"We heard the whistle blown, so I didn't even see that Jared had the ball, so it was a lot going on there, and I was just asking for clarification on everything," Heyward said. "But they weren't willing to share with me, so I just kinda had to wait like everybody else."
Inside linebacker Patrick Queen felt like he was the only one displaying patience.
"I (was) just doing alright just watching it all play out, just hoping they would say it was dead or something," Queen said. "It was a crazy situation."
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he was trying to read Cheffers' lips.
"I saw him mouth, 'OPI, end of the game,'" Rodgers said. "So I felt pretty confident that was what was going to happen, but you never know. There's more time and, like I said, I was there for the 'Fail Mary' game. I was standing (close) to the replacement refs as they caved to the pressure of an angry Seattle field when that was obviously not simultaneous possession. I was glad that (tonight) ended up like that. Wild game. Glad we were on top."
As for the opponents' sudden disappointment, Rodgers couldn't resist being sly.
"You hate to see it," Rodgers said before cracking a smile and turning to head away from the podium.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Pure Pandemonium: Steelers Players React to Baffling Final Play vs. Lions
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