Let’s be honest, how many Lions fans really expected Detroit to pull off a win over the defending Superbowl Champions this year. Heck, if it weren’t for a strong legion of Steelers fans buying tickets to the game, most of us would have had to listen to it on the radio. The truth is: most of us feared it would be another blowout.

Maybe it should have been. In my opinion, the game was not as close as the final 28-20 score indicated. Nonetheless, the Lions managed to stick around for four quarters this week, which is something.

Detroit was still inconsistent on both sides of the ball. Some of that is to be expected. A new quarterback and some rotating defensive personnel will create some confusion. Add an early injury to WR Calvin Johnson and suddenly the playbook gets a lot smaller.

There were great plays on both sides of the ball. Will James’ pick-6 in the 2nd quarter put the Lions right back in the game. Culpepper made some key passes on 3rd and long to keep drives alive, and his 4th quarter touchdown pass to Dennis Northcutt was a thing of beauty.

There were also atrocious plays on each side of the ball. Detroit’s defense did a decent job of getting pressure on Big Ben Roethlisberger late in the game, but he was still able to rack up a 76% completion percentage on his way to 277 yards and three touchdowns. Daunte Culpepper was able to keep drives alive by converting 61% of Detroit’s third downs, but made some key errors like the late desperation pass over the middle which was the easiest interception Pittsburgh will have all year.

Even though Pittsburgh was the better team, the Lions still found ways to hang in for a full game. After getting down 28-13 and looking to be on the verge of yet another blowout, Detroit fought to the bell and kept the game interesting until the two-minute warning. For fans who have watched the greatest show of professional football futility since the expansion Buccaneers, that’s something.

Random thoughts:

Will James showed why he beat out highly-touted free agent acquisition Philip Buchanon by making a great play on a sideline pass and returning the interception for a touchdown. Buchanon did not generate any glory in his new special teams role as he failed to keep outside contain on what resulted in a long kick-off return for Pittsburgh. He was, apparently, playing better than Anthony Henry, who Buchanon replaced midway through the Steeler game.

Detroit was not outscored in the 2nd half for the first time this year, as each team notched a single touchdown. Detroit would have actually scored more points than Pittsburgh in the second half except that…

…Jason Hanson missed his first field goal in 20 attempts?! The future Hall-of-Famer proves himself human by going wide right on a 49 yard try.

Calvin Johnson’s knee injury has been deemed “not significant” by the coaches and trainers. That means that he may play against Green Bay next week, and at worst he will return after the Lions bye week.

Eric King, however, is gone for the season. The musical chairs in the Lions secondary will continue. Maybe we can get Stanley Wilson back? I kid! I kid!