The Detroit Lions' history on Thanksgiving is loaded with memorable moments. Infamous moments such as blowout losses or an ill-timed Jim Schwartz challenge have led countless viewers to search on Google, "Why do the Lions always play on Thanksgiving?" Perhaps the most infamous Lions' Thanksgiving moment of all time came from a coin toss.
In 1998, the 5-6 Lions hosted the 7-4 Pittsburgh Steelers. Both the Lions and Steelers were hoping to build momentum heading into the final stretch of the season in tight playoff races in both conferences. What ensued was a defensive battle.
Neither team scored in the first quarter, and only kicked field goals in the second. The Steelers, led by quarterback Kordell Stewart and running back Jerome Bettis, entered halftime with a 6-3 lead. The Steelers would be the first to reach the endzone with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Stewart to wide receiver Will Blackwell. The Lions added another FG off the leg of Jason Hanson to bring the score to 13-6 entering the fourth quarter.
The Lions would finally reach the endzone themselves in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 21-yard TD pass from future-Steelers QB Charlie Batch to should-be-Hall-of-Fame WR Herman Moore. Hanson would kick another FG to take a 16-13 lead. However, the Steelers would make their way to FG range, with Norm Johnson kicking the game-tying FG as time expired.
What happened after that would live in infamy.
Lions win thanks to a bizarre coin toss
One of the biggest complaints about the NFL's overtime rules over the years is the assumption that the winner is decided by the overtime coin toss. On Thanksgiving 1998, it may very well have been.
During the coin flip, official Phil Luckett went over the overtime rules as normal. First team to score wins. As customary, a player on the road team calls heads or tails while the official tosses the coin in the air. Bettis appears to call "tails," however, Luckett announced that Bettis said "heads." As Bettis and the Steelers tried to correct Luckett, Luckett announced that the coin landed on tails and that the Lions won the coin toss. Later audio enhancements of game footage suggest that Bettis said, "hea-tails," which led to Luckett going with the first side of the coin he heard, following NFL rules.
November 26, 1998#Steelers #Lions
The Coin Toss incident
Bettis appears to say Tails but referee Phil Luckett heard heads so the #Steelers lose the toss and first possession#HereWeGo #OnePride pic.twitter.com/Q8acFhiN3e
— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) November 26, 2024
The Steelers' pleas would be for naught as the Lions ultimately received the kickoff, which was returned 21 yards the Lions' 35 by returner Terry Fair. On the first play from scrimmage, Batch completed a 28-yard pass to Moore to quickly enter Steelers' territory. The Lions would reach the Steelers' 24-yard line before lining up for the game-winning 42-yard FG attempt, which Hanson converted, giving the Lions a 19-16 win.
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Neither the Lions nor the Steelers found good fortune in the aftermath of this game. Neither team won again for the remainder of the season. Bettis, a Detroit native, would go on to help the Steelers win Super Bowl XL in Detroit seven seasons later en route to a Hall of Fame enshrinement. The Lions, meanwhile, have only made it as far as the NFC Championship game since.
The Lions and Steelers have faced off six times since this infamous coin toss, with the Steelers winning all but one of those games. That one game? Their most recent meeting, which ended in a tie. That tie was notable as it ensured the 2021 Lions, who were 0-8 at the time, would not finish with a 0-17 record. The Lions and Steelers will play this season in Week 16 in what could be the last time the Lions face off against former division foe Aaron Rodgers.
With another yearly Thanksgiving game on the way, against Rodgers' former Green Bay Packers team, the Lions have the opportunity to make more memories. Whether those memories will be good or bad is, historically, a bit of a coin flip.