Five things we learned from Lions 16, Steelers 16:

1. Fit to be tied

This wasn’t the type of tie the Steelers had in mind when they stepped onto the grass at Heinz Field on Sunday.

They were looking to get a share of first place in the AFC North standings — not a tie on the scoreboard.

Failing to get a victory against the 0-8 Lions not only kept the Steelers a half-game behind Baltimore — and a half-game ahead of Cincinnati — it could endanger the Steelers when it comes to a wild-card possibility.

Sure, the Steelers still have three losses entering the second half of their schedule. Buffalo and Baltimore also have three, and Tennessee is tops in the AFC with an 8-2 record. But those three teams, plus New England and Kansas City already have six victories. The Steelers are in a jumbled five-win club that includes Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Denver and the Los Angeles Chargers.

The tie could work to or against the Steelers’ advantage when the final records are reached Jan. 9. Until then, the Steelers have just one game left against a team that currently has a losing record. And that game will be at Minnesota (4-5) on a Thursday night following the Steelers’ first matchup against the Ravens.

2. Line shuffling

Just when it looked the offensive line was building some continuity, both starting guards exited with injuries against the Lions. Left guard Kevin Dotson left after playing 33 snaps, and right guard Trai Turner followed him to the sideline after playing 51 of a possible 87 offensive snaps.

B.J. Finney, who was bothered by back problems in the days leading up to the game against Chicago, was not active against Detroit, an indication he had another flareup. That left J.C. Hassenauer, who primarily plays center, and Joe Haeg, who has practiced mostly at tackle, to fill the two interior spots.

Najee Harris rushed for 105 yards and Mason Rudolph wasn’t sacked in his 2021 debut, so the backups filled in capably on the line. The Steelers may need reinforcements starting this week when they travel to Los Angeles. The only true guard on the practice squad is rookie undrafted free agent Malcolm Pridgeon of Ohio State. Chaz Green, a six-year veteran tackle, had experience playing guard with Dallas in 2017.

3. High(smith) praise

Alex Highsmith remains stuck on 1.5 sacks for the season, and he has gone three consecutive games without at least sharing a quarterback takedown. But his presence against the Lions was felt in the backfield as the second-year outside linebacker arguably played his best game of the season.

Highsmith finished second on the defense with 11 tackles, including eight solo. Only inside linebacker Joe Schobert had more, with 13 total tackles. Highsmith had two tackles for loss and one hit on quarterback Jared Goff.

The Steelers needed Highsmith to make an impact, particularly after T.J. Watt exited late in the third quarter with hip and knee injuries following a collision with Schobert. He rose to the challenge. Highsmith played all but five of 71 defensive snaps, leaving Taco Charlton and Derek Tuszka to divvy up the reps at left outside linebacker following Watt’s injury. Tuszka got the bulk of the work late in the game and played 21 snaps, two fewer than Charlton logged.

4. Widening gap

Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward talked of gap integrity and how the Steelers lost it for much of the game while the Lions rushed for 229 yards. It’s become a recurring theme for the Steelers, who couldn’t stop the run in the second half against Seattle and had difficulties against Chicago.

In those two games, the Steelers allowed 144 and 136 yards, respectively. Coach Mike Tomlin commended the defense for holding the Cleveland Browns to 96 yards on Halloween, but that had much to do with the Browns’ curious decision to emphasize the pass rather than lean heavily on Nick Chubb in that game.

Consider that five of the past six opponents averaged more than 5.0 yards a carry against the Steelers, the Browns being the exception at 4.2.

The problems are magnified the longer that Steelers play without Tyson Alualu and Stephon Tuitt up front. Alualu isn’t coming back this year from his injury, and Tuitt’s return keeps getting delayed. The injuries to Watt and cornerback Joe Haden don’t help the cause.

5. It shall pass

Tomlin said the offensive game plan didn’t change after Ben Roethlisberger tested positive for covid, which elevated Rudolph into the starting role.

If that is true, perhaps that explains the Steelers’ decision to have Rudolph attempt 50 passes, including three attempts after the offense got a first-and-goal from the 5. All three passes fell incomplete, of course, and the Steelers had to settle for a Chris Boswell field goal. That happened twice in the game after the Steelers had a first-and-goal.

Some of Rudolph’s passes sailed high. Some were too low, including his skipped attempt to Ray-Ray McCloud in the end zone. Some had too much zip — a third-down toss to Diontae Johnson springs to mind — and others not enough. Rudolph deserves his share of the blame, but the Steelers shouldn’t have put him in position to attempt 50 passes in his first NFL action of the season. Maybe Tomlin wasn’t sure what he could get from Harris, who surfaced on the injury report Thursday. Still, Harris got his second career 100-yard game. A few more carries, particularly around the goal line, may have changed the outcome for the Steelers.

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