The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to give the Detroit Lions their first victory of the 2021 campaign, but they wouldn’t take it as the two sides tied 16-16 Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.
It is the second tie of the Mike Tomlin era, and strangely both of his ties have come against winless teams. For the Lions, Dan Campbell becomes the second consecutive coach to endure a tie as Matt Patricia, his predecessor, also endured a draw.
For Houston sports fans, the only question that matters is: what does this mean for the Texans and their placement in the 2022 NFL draft?
Because ties count as a half win and a half loss, the way to look at it is the Lions are 0.5-8.5 in the standings compared to the Texans’ 1-8.
The tie does become helpful in the fact that if the Texans never win another game the rest of the year, but the Lions actually win a game outright, Detroit has a half-win lead over Houston — 1.5-15.5 to 1-16. There is no tie, and Houston gets the No. 1 overall pick.
The Texans don’t get back in action until Nov. 21 when they face the Tennesssee Titans at Nissan Stadium. The leaders of the AFC South improve to 8-2 following their 23-21 win over the New Orleans Saints.
