Steelers Now
DETROIT — The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Detroit Lions, 29-24 in a huge game for both teams that had more than its fair share of controversy. Much of that controversy surrounded the officiating of the crew led by NFL referee Carl Cheffers.
Cheffers ended the game with his announcement that Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had committed offensive pass interference on the final play of the game. Because that play ended with no time on the clock, the game was over at that point.
His announcement came after a several-minute delay, during which no definitely signal was ever given by the officiating crew.
What a WILD ending in the Lions/Steelers game.
An OPI from ARSB negated what was almost an incredible touchdown for Detroit.
Instead, it'll go down as another disappointing loss.
— The Goal Line Grind (@theGLgrind) December 22, 2025
Cheffers explained his ruling in a pool report, via Nolan Bianchi of the PFWA.
“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. …
“It is a pretty complex play. We had 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 do 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.”
The crux of the call was the offensive pass interference foul against St. Brown. After that flag was thrown (and more than one official threw one), the rest of the drama was negated.
It was the fourth offensive pass interference penalty of the game, with two going against each team. The Steelers had a first-down grab by DK Metcalf negated the first half and a touchdown to Metcalf in the second half both taken away by OPI calls. The Lions lost two touchdowns in the game’s final seconds due to penalties.
The Cheffers crew has called more offensive pass interference penalties than any other this season.
The Lions-Steelers game was the 1st time since a Packers-Vikings game in Week 2 of 2019 that had 4 offensive pass interference penalties (2 on each team). Carl Cheffers' crew has called a league-high 10 this season
Source: NFLPenalties(dot)com
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 22, 2025
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Referee Explains Bizarre Ending to Steelers-Lions Game
