Week 16 of the 2025 NFL season has provided instant classic after instant classic, and the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ (9-6) 29-24 road win at the Detroit Lions (8-7) had the wildest ending of them all on Sunday evening.
The week began with the Seattle Seahawks erasing a 30-14 fourth-quarter deficit to win 38-37 in overtime on their third successful two-point conversion of the Thursday night classic, but what happened at Ford Field in Detroit Sunday afternoon takes the cake for the craziest final play.
Facing a fourth-and-goal from the nine with eight seconds left on the clock, Lions quarterback Jared Goff dropped back to pass, and he connected with top target Amon-Ra St. Brown near the goal line, but St. Brown was clearly going to be tackled short of the end zone. That’s when the All-Pro wide receiver frantically whipped the football backward with the hopes a teammate would recover the football and run in for the game-winning touchdown. Funny enough, Goff did just that despite the Steelers defense appearing to stop playing because it seemed like St. Brown was held up long enough for the play to be blown dead because of forward progress.
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However, Goff’s scoop and score off St. Brown’s lateral was wiped away because St. Brown pushed off of Steelers All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey to make the initial catch at the start of the play.
Head referee Carl Cheffers explained that because the penalty was on the offense that Goff’s touchdown was nullified. By NFL rules, an offensive penalty when time has expired does not trigger a replay of the previous play, so the Steelers walked away with a crucial, late-season victory.
The Lions’ playoff hopes are now slim to none as a result of their last-second loss. Detroit needs the Green Bay Packers, the current owner of the NFC’s seventh and final playoff spot, to lose their last two games against the Baltimore Ravens (7-8) and the Minnesota Vikings (7-8), and the Lions also need to win their last two games at the Vikings and at the NFC North-leading Chicago Bears (11-4).
