The Lions Grey Manes break down the devastating Steelers loss: two controversial OPI calls, DK Metcalf's fan assault, the worst rushing performance in 20 years, and why injured starters returning hasn't saved the season. Plus, Vikings preview and playoff scenarios.

We dissect the defensive collapse that allowed two 45-yard touchdowns, examine the officiating controversies, and provide data-driven keys to beating Minnesota on Christmas Day.

Join us for the hard truths about injuries, depth issues, and whether this team can salvage a playoff berth.

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[0:00] Today, we're examining one of the most controversial losses in recent Lions memory, a game that exposed systemic issues we've been tracking all season, punctuated by officiating that will be debated for years. But we're not here for hot takes. We're here to understand what happened, why it happened, and what it means for the season that's slipping away. Forward down the field.

[0:26] All right, all right, all right. Lions, Gray, Manes fam, welcome to the show. If you're here, you're one of the real ones because Lions fans across the globe are just checking out. Everyone's saying, hey, who are we drafting? Where is our draft position? Ladies and gentlemen, we're still in playoff contention. I don't know if you've noticed that and whether or not you feel that the Lions are in playoff contention, rest assured my man, the chief intelligence officer of lions, optimism, DBC, Dr. Brent Kreider. I know you were there for that game at Ford field. I know it was very disappointing and we've got Steelers fans that are already here tonight that are chiming in Dr. James Hicks, who I know is a Steelers fan. That's already here. Brent, let's break it down. Um, There's a lot to talk about from the Steelers game, mostly because it's not just about all this stuff that happened at the end of the game, but how does that play out for the rest of our season? We have a few games left in our season, hopefully more than a few games in our season, but leading into the future.

[1:45] DBC, how was the game? And from your perspective, I know you were there. I know the game didn't end up how we wanted it to end up. But let's get your perspective before we roll into it tonight.

[2:01] Well, first, Chris, very, very, I think, apropos description of the situation that we find ourselves in. And the Lions fans, and I would say that it was probably the least excited crowd in the last four years. The crowds have been ravenous at Ford Field. And there was almost a malaise over the crowd, and much in the way the Lions started the game. The Lions were in a funk and didn't really come alive until the fourth quarter. The truth was, it just didn't feel right. But in the third quarter, in the early fourth quarter, when the Steelers scored, I still had confidence that the Lions could win the game. I'm not kidding you. I was very cautiously optimistic that the Lions were going to win the game. And when we scored the first time, the place went nuts. When we scored the second time, the place went nuts. And then the ref announced, the touchdown counts. It's ruled a touchdown, but there was a lot of confusion.

[3:11] The way he described it, I've heard a lot of folks critique the description that the head official gave there, the referee gave. You might not want to lead with, hey, it is a touchdown, but you don't have a touchdown. Let's not lead with it. But the game's over. It was almost that abrupt. And so it created a lot of confusion for the Lions fans because we're like, but Do we get the touchdown? The game ends. Is there another play? You know, what we commonly talk about with defensive penalties, do you get another play? If it's an accepted penalty, you know, do you get another play? I mean, there's all those questions that you have, and he gave no adequate description of, you know, what the end was other than he walked off the field.

[3:57] And the fans went absolutely nuts because at various points through the game, there was the ref you suck chance And, you know, there were calls that were questionable, but certainly the calls were not the root cause of why the Lions lost that football game. Yeah, what's crazy. Yeah, what's crazy. And we've got a lot to cover tonight. And folks, if you are here live, thank you for for being a part of this. The chat's open. So if you've got any questions, if you want to vent.

[4:28] This is a safe space. You know, we talk to fans of other teams that have jumped in our chat. We've talked to Lions fans who are just ready to talk about April already. That's fine. We're here to talk about all of it. We understand it. We've been around here. If this is your first time as a Lions Gray Mains attendee in the live stream or listening to us on an audio podcast, which we do, welcome. And uh you know we've been we've been lions fans all our lives and we are a little bit long in the fang so um you know we've we've experienced the owen 16 and we've experienced a lot of really really bad seasons and we're not ready to to throw it in uh and say hey let's uh let's you know lose the last two games so we can get an extra three tiers on our on our uh on our draft board or whatever we're talking about. It's about winning. And it's about taking that end of the season into the next season, which we've seen even in the Campbell era, Brent as well.

[5:41] So let's, let's talk a little bit more about the Steelers game. Obviously a major disappointment. We were favored going into that game. It was a game that I think many thought we, we should have won.

[5:55] When you when you look at how the team, you know, rallied at the end came down to, you know, with just however many seconds left, there was two OPIs at the end of the game. And you've got the, uh, got the pick play with Tesla, uh, that came in. It was like, Oh, geez, we have a touchdown. Then they called the pick play, you know, from, from what I saw looks like a pick play. I think this is like Isaac Tesla is going to learn how to not, you know, not sort of, he's got to sell that a little bit better. He's got to look like he's running a route. We all know pick plays happen in the NFL, right? Can't lower your shoulder like he did there. And they're there like, this is a point of emphasis for our officials.

[6:41] So that's going to get played. That's going to get called at times. Does it get called for every team? No, doesn't get called for every team. Right, Brent? And so there was that. And then there was obviously the play at the end of the game where Amonra St. Brown caught the, you know, caught the ball short of the line to gain, short of the end zone. but had apparently pushed off Jalen Ramsey to give himself that space. Uh, to make that catch look like he got his forward progress stopped, but pitch the ball back to Jared Goff. Jared Goff made an absolute athletic play. I mean, everybody wants to dog Brent. Everybody wants to dog Jared Goff for, for him not being an athlete, but that was, that was pretty awesome that Jared, what Jared Goff did to, to make that play, to get into the end zone.

[7:34] And, you know, obviously the play was called to where, you know, Jalen Ramsey and Amon Ra St. Brown came in. Amon Ra, you know, did that sort of push off. It was called that OPI game over. And it was extremely disappointing. Brent, let's talk about your thoughts on that. Well, I was watching Get Up and Rex Ryan was who wore a lion's sweater and had the lion's jingle bell all over it and had a big lion on his chest. And he said the Detroit Lions were absolutely robbed. He said the NFL screwed this up, period. And he went on about it. He went on quite at length about it. What I saw was I saw Tesla push into the defender. And so it's a judgment call on the officials' part as to whether it constituted a pick or not.

[8:32] I'm of the opinion after having watched it, because when you're in the stadium, it's hard to see every detail. And they don't always play the replays and show specifically what happened. But when I went back and watched the play... It was clear to me that Tesla was pushed into the defender. Now, look, there are teams that practice this stuff and know and anticipate what the lines are going to want to do. And so you can defensively create your own opportunities. And I think the second pass interference call was clearly a flop. It was a Dennis Rodman flop. He threw his arms up in the air and really Amon Rodgers kind of bumped into him and peeled off. and I'm not even sure he extended his arms.

[9:19] It just might have kind of touched him. But he sold it. He did. And the defender sold it. So, Those are judgment calls by the official. You can certainly see why they would call it. You can also certainly see why they weren't penalties. In the biggest spot on the biggest stage, right? Biggest spot, biggest stage. But what was really disappointing is that there was so much more physicality in the game that wasn't called. Holding of lines receivers, interrupting their routes. JMO was bumped multiple times in the process of his routes, and that wasn't called. And so the biggest thing I think that most Lions fans struggle with is consistency.