The NFL has issued punishment to a Pittsburgh Steelers defender for a hit on Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff in last week’s game.
The Steelers took down the Lions 29-24 after Detroit came up short on a final desperate play at the goal line as time expired. A hit on quarterback Jared Goff helped the Lions advance on that drive, and the league is now handing down more punishment to the player who did it.
NFL Announces Fine for Steelers Linebacker
The league on Saturday announced that Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith was fined $12,172 for tripping Goff in the final two minutes of last week’s game. Highsmith had sacked Goff on the play, but the penalty negated it and pushed the Lions to Pittsburgh’s 36-yard line.
The Lions were able to reach the red zone and appeared to score the game-winning touchdown when wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a pass and pitched the ball to Goff, who dived over the goal line. But officials flagged St. Brown for offensive pass interference, ending the game.
The loss dealt a major blow to Detroit’s playoff hopes, which were officially dashed with a loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day.
Highsmith wasn’t the only member of the Steelers fined after the game. The league also announced that defensive end Yahya Black was fined $5,194 for an obscene gesture in the first quarter.
Jared Goff Frustrated After Three Straight Losses
The Lions had not lost back-to-back games in more than three years, but their defeat at the hands of the Steelers was the second in a row. That extended to three games with Thursday’s loss to the Vikings, which led to some frustration for Goff.
The Lions quarterback said it was difficult to see the team go on a long scoring drive before halftime, only to struggle throughout the second half.
“We had some good plays on that [scoring drive] with some good third-down conversions,” Goff said. “They came out in the second half and adjusted pretty well and had some different stuff for us. And we didn’t do a good enough job on our side of adjusting to those different things they were doing.”
Goff added that the Vikings came with a good defensive game plan that exploited Detroit’s weaknesses.
“They do a good job on defense,” Goff said. “They had a good plan and exploited some things on us… They were able to get after us, and adding an extra rusher a lot of times. Whenever that happens, it’s a free rush when I’m hot. And they did a good job with that. We had we had a plan that we thought would attack that, but it didn’t work well enough.”
The Lions are now headed to a long offseason with some big questions to be answered, including some of the team’s offensive weapons like wide receiver Kalif Raymond and tight end Shane Zylstra. Backup quarterback Kyle Allen is also headed to free agency, which could force the team to find a new backup for Goff.
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