Bettis Doesn’t Get the Call and Lions Get the Victory

PONTIAC, Mich. —  Maybe the referee made a mistake. Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers did.

All that’s known for sure is that a game of Xs and O’s came down to heads and tails.

In a Thanksgiving Day game marked by a bizarre coin flip to start overtime, the Detroit Lions escaped with a 19-16 victory over the Steelers on a 42-yard field goal by Jason Hanson 2:52 into the extra period Thursday.

On the midfield coin flip, Jerome Bettis of Pittsburgh called tails. But referee Phil Luckett told pool reporters after the game Bettis called “heads-tails” and Luckett went with the first thing he heard.

“I did not say ‘heads-tails,’ ” Bettis said. “That is a lie. That’s a bald-faced lie.”

Detroit cornerback Robert Bailey, who was not part of the coin toss, said he heard Bettis call one thing and teammate Carnell Lake call another.

“To me, it sounded like one guy called heads and one guy called tails,” Bailey said. “That way, no matter what happens, you can argue. It’s an old trick.”

In any event, the Steelers kicked off and never saw the ball again.

“I’m not saying we lost the game because of the officials,” Steelers Coach Bill Cowher said. “But it’s a shame that this is the center of focus after a game like that.”

Two controversial calls led to the first of Norm Johnson’s two first-quarter field goals for Pittsburgh (7-5). But, clearly, the biggest disputed call came before the start of overtime, giving the Lions (5-7) the right to receive.

“I’ve never seen anything as blatant as that,” Lake said. “I even looked at the Lions and they were like, ‘Wow.’ They didn’t say anything because they wanted the ball. The ref made a bad decision.”

After a 21-yard runback by Terry Fair, the Lions went 41 yards in seven plays, keyed by a 28-yard pass from Charlie Batch to Herman Moore and a face-mask call against Chris Oldham. After Barry Sanders was stopped for no gain on second down, the Lions decided to go for the field goal on third down.

Sanders gained only 33 yards in 20 carries but still became just the second running back in NFL history to rush for more than 15,000 yards. He now has 15,003 and trails only Walter Payton, who holds the record with 16,726 yards.

Johnson, who had field goals of 30 and 38 yards in the second quarter, capped a 74-yard, 15-play drive with a 25-yarder to tie the score, 16-16, with one second remaining in regulation.

It was a big loss for the Steelers, who started the day one game behind Jacksonville in the AFC Central Division.

“What makes me mad is when you fight and scratch for 60 minutes out there, and the game is decided by guys who wear striped shirts,” Cowher said. “There’s something wrong about that.”

The Steelers built a 13-3 lead in the third quarter when Kordell Stewart, who completed hit 21 of 36 passes for 225 yards, threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Will Blackwell.

Batch, who completed 16 of 23 passes for 236 yards despite sitting out several minutes with a neck injury, connected with Moore for a 21-yard touchdown pass to tie the score, 13-13, with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter.

Hanson, who missed a 43-yarder in the fourth quarter, also made kicks of 45, 51 and 35 yards before his game-winner.

Replays indicated officials erred on both calls that set up Johnson’s first field goal.

Stewart appeared to have lost a fumble on a seven-yard run, but he was ruled down. Later in the same drive, Bailey appeared to intercept Stewart’s pass that bounced off Courtney Hawkins’ chest. But it was ruled incomplete, and six plays later Johnson kicked a 30-yard field goal.