The confrontation between Steelers receiver DK Metcalf and a Lions fan during Sunday’s game was apparently not the first interaction between the two individuals.
Per NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, Metcalf previously reported the same fan to Seahawks security last season while still playing for the club.
Pelissero adds that a source close to Metcalf said the fan — who identified himself to the Detroit Free Press as Ryan Kennedy — called Metcalf’s mother a derogatory word and then called Metcalf “something we both know you don’t call a Black man.”
The fan, however, claims Metcalf was upset about being called his legal name instead of his common nickname, DK.
Metcalf was able to play the rest of Sunday’s win over Detroit, though he ducked reporters after the contest in the locker room. Head coach Mike Tomlin also declined to comment on the situation.
The league is reviewing the incident and could hand down discpline as soon as Monday.
Steelers Clips
In past years, the Steelers have struggled to win games without linebacker T.J. Watt. This year, they have not.
The Steelers have won two games during Watt’s absence, following a dry-needling mishap that punctured a hole in his lung, requiring surgery.
Prior to 2025, the Steelers were 1-10 in games Watt missed.
They still need Watt, if they hope to reach their maximum potential this season. And in just 15 days, their ceiling has improved from “finish .500 or better” to “conquer the AFC North” to “win a playoff game” to “who knows?”
Sunday’s game was Pittsburgh’s best of the year. They’re peaking at the right time, three weeks after they bottomed out. The 26-7 loss to the Bills was a disaster, featuring the most rushing yards given up at home in 50 years, loud chants of “Fire Tomlin!,” and boos during the iconic Renegade moment.
They’ve gone 3-0 since then, pushing their record from 6-6 to 9-6. Coupled with Baltimore’s loss to the Patriots on Sunday night, Pittsburgh’s magic number to win the division title is one. If the Ravens lose to the Packers on Saturday night, the Steelers will have the fourth seed in the AFC locked up, with two games to play.
In a wide open AFC playoff field, the Steelers could make some noise. They could win some games. They’re surely love another crack at the Bills or the Chargers in a single-elimination setting.
And here’s the ultimate Pittsburgh/Aaron Rodgers Ayuahuasca pipe dream for the coming postseason: A Super Bowl showdown with the Bears.
Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes it is.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson suffered a bruise to his back late in the second quarter of Baltimore’s 28-24 loss to New England, head coach John Harbaugh told reporters in his postgame press conference.
It’s unclear how that will affect Jackson’s availability going forward.
“It’s a bruise of some kind, I think. I don’t know how serious it’ll be,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll have to find out in the next couple of days. He got kneed in the back on the ground there.
“I really don’t have a word on it now,” Harbaugh later added. “It’s just early. Haven’t gotten anything definitive from the trainers or doctors yet. I don’t know. Probably [will] know more tomorrow or the next day.”
Harbaugh also noted that Jackson was not in a position to play in the second half.
“No, he couldn’t go,” Harbaugh said. “If he could’ve gone, he would’ve gone.”
Jackson was injured on a designed run with two minutes left in the second quarter, rushing for 3 yards. Replay showed he took a knee to the back, as Harbaugh said.
While Jackson stayed in the game for another play — a run by Keaton Mitchell for -5 yards — the Ravens then called a timeout to get him out of the game and examine him on the sideline. He was sent to the locker room early, with the NBC broadcast showing him clearly frustrated by the injury as he walked up for further examination.
Jackson was 7-of-10 passing for 101 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions at the time of his injury. He also had two carries for 7 yards.
Tyler Huntley, who finished the game at QB, was 9-of-10 for 65 yards and had a pair of carries for 2 yards.
In an NFL stadium, cameras are everywhere. The network has them. The league has them.
The fans have them.
A new angle, as shot by someone’s cell phone device, has emerged of Steelers receiver DK Metcalf’s interaction with a fan. It shows Metcalf approach the stands (with no one trying to stop him). He reaches up and grabs the fan by the T-shirt. Metcalf yanks the T-shirt down, holds it for a second or two, and then punches up with his hand.
His fist was closed as the motion began. His hand was open after it appeared to glance off the fan. (Characterizing it as “no punch” is, frankly, not accurate.)
It’s another factor for the league to consider on Monday, when weighing whether to fine Metcalf or to suspend him. Which is what the league will do. The existing precedent in situations like this, as noted earlier, is (per a league source) a fine.
There seems to be no apples-to-apples precedent for this specific situation. And, frankly, if this one doesn’t rise to the level of a suspension, what does? A knockout blow?
The ending to Sunday’s Steelers-Lions game included not one but two offensive pass interference calls that required further explanation from referee Carl Cheffers.
After Pittsburgh’s 29-24 win, Cheffers addressed both calls with pool reporter Nolan Bianchi.
As to the first, which happened with the Lions facing first and goal from the one with 25 seconds to play, receiver Isaac TeSlaa was flagged for OPI for a pick that freed up receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for a touchdown.
“The reporting official on that play told me that the offending player picked one of the defenders, creating an opportunity for the offensive player to make the catch,” Cheffers said.
Asked if TeSlaa was more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage, Cheffers said, “Well, it has to be beyond a yard or it would not be a foul. The ruling on the field was that the action occurred beyond a yard.”
Later, on the final play of the game, a catch by St. Brown followed by a lateral to quarterback Jared Goff (who caught it and scored) was eliminated by an OPI call on St. Brown.
“The official who called the foul said that the receiver created separation that gave him an advantage in catching the pass,” Cheffers said. “So, he called pass interference.”
Cheffers then was asked about the long discussion that occurred before the final call was announced.
“It is a pretty complex play,” Cheffers said. “We have the original player who had the ball, lose possession of the ball. So, we had to decide if that was a fumble or a backwards pass because of course we have restrictions on the recovery of a fumble inside of two minutes. We ruled that it was a backward pass, so the recovering player was able to advance it and that recovering player advanced it for a touchdown. We had to rule on that and then because of the offensive pass interference, it negates the touchdown. Because it is an offensive foul, we did not extend the half. Therefore, there is no score and there is no replay of the down. That’s the way the rule is written.”
In other words, but for the OPI foul, the last play would have counted — and the Lions would have won the game, 30-29.
The Steelers took home a big win from Detroit today, and Mike Tomlin added to his list of career achievements.
The win was Tomlin’s 200th victory as an NFL head coach. It also guaranteed that the Steelers will have a winning record this season, meaning Tomlin has now been .500 or better in all 19 seasons of his coaching career.
Tomlin is now 200-124-2 in his head coaching career, counting the playoffs. He’s the 11th head coach in NFL history with 200 wins, and at age 53 he’s the third-youngest coach to reach the 200-win mark, with only Hall of Famers Curly Lambeau and Don Shula doing it at a younger age.
With 19 seasons finishing .500 or better, Tomlin has tied Marty Schottenheimer for the fourth-most such seasons in NFL history. Only Shula with 24, Andy Reid with 23 and Bill Belichick with 21 have had more.
Only a few weeks ago, Pittsburgh fans chanting “Fire Tomlin” were the talk of the NFL. Today Pittsburgh fans may be reflecting on how fortunate they’ve been to have Tomlin as their team’s head coach for 19 years.
Sunday’s Steelers-Lions game included a bizarre fan interaction from Pittsburgh receiver DK Metcalf. After the game, neither Metcalf nor coach Mike Tomlin had anything to say about it.
Via Mike DeFabo of TheAthletic.com, Metcalf left the locker room without speaking to reporters.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who did speak to reporters, had no comment, via SteelersDepot.com. Tomlin said he had heard about the incident, but he had not seen it.
The overriding question is what the Steelers and Metcalf will hear from the league about it. The NFL will study the incident on Monday and make a decision on discipline.
The 9-6 Steelers visit the Browns next Sunday. Pittsburgh has now won three in a row, after an embarrassing Week 13 home loss to the Bills.
Death, taxes, and Mike Tomlin-coached teams finishing the season with at least a .500 record.
It took a wild, chaotic finish, but the Steelers held on to beat the Lions 29-24 to get their ninth victory of the season.
The Steelers were up by 12 points twice in the fourth quarter after twin Jaylen Warren 45-yard touchdown runs. But even though the Lions did next to nothing on offense for the third quarter, they were relentless in the fourth until the game’s bizarre final play.
On fourth-and-goal from the 9-yard line, quarterback Jared Goff sent a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown at the goal line. St. Brown caught it outside of the end zone and was clearly in the grasp of two defenders being driven backward for multiple seconds when he then shook free and lateraled the ball to Goff. The quarterback ran into the end zone for what was, ostensibly, a game-winning score.
But the problem with that was the officials ruled St. Brown had committed offensive pass interference by shoving defensive back Jalen Ramsey as he awaited the pass from Goff. Because the game can end on an offensive penalty and no time was remaining on the clock, it was officially the end of the contest and the Steelers won.
It should be noted, however, that the officials did rule that Goff’s touchdown was good — a questionable call because St. Brown’s progress had not only been stopped, but if the Steelers had done anything more to bring him down, they likely would’ve been flagged for unnecessary roughness.
Either way, the outcome was correct with the Steelers winning.
With his two long runs, Warren finished with 143 yards on 14 carries — leading Pittsburgh to finish with a total of 230 yards on the ground. Kenneth Gainwell had 50 yards on nine carries, plus five catches for 78 yards with a stunning 45-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished 27-of-41 for 266 yards with a touchdown.
Until the fourth quarter, it was a rough go of it for Goff, who finished 34-of-54 for 364 yards with three touchdowns. He was sacked for a safety midway through the third quarter. The Lions’ first two possessions in the second half resulted in two points for Pittsburgh and -3 yards.
Lions receiver Jameson Williams finished the day with five catches for 70 yards, putting him over 1,000 yards for a second consecutive year.
The Lions barely had any rushing attempts, with David Montgomery finishing with 14 yards on four carries and Jahmyr Gibbs taking seven carries for 2 yards. Gibbs did have 10 receptions for 66 yards with a TD.
Now at 9-6, the Steelers will finish their 19th season under Tomlin with a record of at least .500. Pittsburgh hasn’t had a losing season since 2003, when the club finished 6-10.
The Steelers remain in the driver’s seat for the AFC North title, with games against the Browns and the Ravens on the schedule to end the regular season.
Detroit’s loss puts the club at 8-7 and greatly diminishes the team’s postseason hopes. Both Chicago and San Francisco officially clinched playoff berths with the result. The Lions will finish the season on the road with a Christmas Day matchup against Minnesota, followed by a Week 18 game against the Bears.
Sunday’s Steelers-Lions game has given the league office a little extra work to do on Monday.
Per a league source, the NFL will turn its attention tomorrow to the contact in which receiver DK Metcalf engaged with a fan during the first half of the Week 16 game.
As the source explained it, precedent for incidents of this nature points to a fine. Once the league takes a closer look at the video and considers the relevant factors, however, a stronger punishment could be imposed on Metcalf.
Unlike the Week 1 incident between Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and a fan in Buffalo, the fan (based on the available video) did not initiate contact with Metcalf. Metcalf approached the stands and grabbed the fan’s shirt and pulled down — before punching up at the fan. It’s unclear whether Metcalf contacted the fan’s face, given the presence of the fan’s Honolulu blue wig.
The league also will presumably search for any other available video of the incident, from NFL-operated cameras to CBS cameras to any other video that may surface.
Regardless, Metcalf’s decision to interact physically with a fan during the game will be a significant topic for discussion and debate on Monday and beyond, regardless of whether he is or isn’t suspended by the NFL.
The Steelers have taken clear control of Sunday’s matchup with the Lions in the second half.
Jaylen Warren may have put the game away with his 45-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, making the score 22-10, Pittsburgh.
Warren now has 98 yards on 13 carries so far on Sunday.
That continues a run of 19 straight points for the Steelers, going back to the end of the first half.
While the Steelers took a two-point lead on a safety, Chris Boswell capped a long 17-play, 64-yard drive to give Pittsburgh a 15-10 advantage.
But the Lions did nothing on their ensuing drive, going three-and-out.
In their first two possessions of the second half, the Lions ran six plays, gained -3 yards, and even lost two points with a safety. Detroit fans vocalized their displeasure, with some resounding boos that were heard on the CBS broadcast.
