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Everything was there for the taking for the Detroit Lions.

After Chris Boswell's missed a 37-yard field goal, Detroit had marched all the way to the Pittsburgh Steelers' 1-yard line. A touchdown would give the Lions the lead with seconds remaining.

Then it all fell apart: An offensive pass interference overturned an Amon-Ra St. Brown touchdown and sent the Lions back to the 11. A false start moved them back to the 16.

What happened on final play in Steelers' chaotic 29-24 road win over Lions? Making sense of dramatic ending
Garrett Podell
What happened on final play in Steelers' chaotic 29-24 road win over Lions? Making sense of dramatic ending

Shortly thereafter, the knockout punch -- a strange and controversial one -- landed: St. Brown caught a pass at the 1-yard line and lateraled to Jared Goff, who scored as time expired. However, St. Brown had been flagged for offensive pass interference, and the heroic effort was for naught. Here's the full explanation.

That sequence may well be emblematic of Detroit's season as a whole.

After the Chicago Bears defeated the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night, the Lions were just one game back of the Packers, who added quarterback Jordan Love (concussion) to their lengthy list of significant injuries. Instead, the Lions fell to 8-7, a result that had two significant NFC playoff implications:

  1. The Bears (11-4) clinched a playoff berth, because the Lions can no longer reach 11 wins.
  2. The San Francisco 49ers (10-4) clinched a playoff berth, because the 49ers' 8-2 conference record is better than what the Lions can possibly reach.

It also narrowed Detroit's postseason path to just about the narrowest one possible. The Packers (9-5-1) remained 1.5 games up on the Lions with two games to go for both teams, meaning the Lions' only path to the playoffs is to win both of their next two games AND have the Packers lose both of their next two games.

  • Lions schedule: Week 17 at Vikings, Week 18 at Bears
  • Packers schedule: Week 17 vs. Ravens, Week 18 at Vikings

SportsLine projections give Detroit a 5% chance to make the postseason.