The spotlight of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions game was stolen by an incident that happened even before the game started. Steelers’ captain Cam Heyward elected to defer instead of opting to receive, and the mishap quickly became the talk of the town. However, when the dust settled, the Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers saw the funny side of it,

“I figured that I missed a side conversation between him and ‘Mike T’ (Tomlin),” said Rodgers after their 29-24 win, “because Mike T came to me and said, ‘Are you good if we take the ball?’ I said, ‘Yeah, for sure.’ “So we went out there (for the toss), and Cam, he’s real territorial about he’s the one who gets to call it. I’m fine (with that); I don’t care. But we win the toss, and he goes, ‘Defer.’

He continued, “I looked at him and said, ‘What?’ In my head, I didn’t say it out loud because I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to act like I wasn’t in the conversation,’ you know? And we jogged over, and he said, ‘I blacked out.’ I don’t know. I said, ‘Hey, “Head,” I thought we were taking the ball’. He goes, ‘I blacked out.’ ”

Fortunately for the Steelers, the Lions were unable to get off to a good start. They went three-and-out to start the game, while the Steelers recorded a field goal on their first possession. Furthermore, Detroit finished with just 15 yards on 12 carries, which reflects the effectiveness of the Steelers’ defense. Aaron Rodgers also played a key role by finishing 27 of 41 passes for 266 yards and scoring a touchdown in the game.

Heyward made up for the incorrect coin toss call with an outstanding performance as well. The 36-year-old recorded a sack in his second-straight game. In addition to that, he did a magnificent job of containing the Lions’ running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who finished the game with 10 receptions for 66 yards.

In the end, it looked like Heyward’s decision worked in their favor. The defensive lineman owned up to his mistake after the match was over, admitting that he received “s***” from his teammates.

Cam Heyward opens up on how the team reacted to the mishap

What seemed like a memorable 1998 Thanksgiving Day coin toss turned out to be good for the Steelers. After Heyward’s decision, the Steelers took the opening drive of the game. They got a field goal for a 3-0 lead. However, the game had its ups and downs. The Lions almost pulled off a 12-point comeback, but the Steelers stayed resilient.

Heyward talked about his mistake in the post-game press conference:

“I was supposed to take the ball, and I deferred,” Heyward said. “And [teammates] gave me a lot of s*** for it. But we were able to correct that throughout the game. And it kind of paid dividends that we were able to double-dip before the half and get the ball.”

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With the victory, Mike Tomlin achieved a historic feat. Also, the Steelers secured their third consecutive win. They will have to finish first in their division to secure a playoff berth. With two games left against the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens, their destiny remains in their own hands.