Clearly, Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell didn’t get the memo.

This was a field-goal kicking challenge.

It was Matt Prater’s game to win, with his foot.

All the Lions had to do was keep kicking field goals, and they could have beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Ford Field. Get into the red zone. Get what you can get from your excellent kicker. Stay alive. Stay close.

But Caldwell messed it up, and the Lions lost, 20-15.

Now, let me set the stage.

Late in the third quarter, Caldwell decided to go all river-boat gambler and go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

He made this decision on a night when the Lions couldn't do anything in the red zone.

He made this decision on a night when the Lions couldn’t do anything near the goal line, against a tough Steelers defense.

He made this decision moments after his injury-depleted offensive line lost right tackle Rick Wagner to an injury (he later returned).

He did this at a time when he didn’t need to risk it. This was not a wild shootout. The Steelers were not lighting up the scoreboard. At that stage, Ben Roethlisberger was missing wide-open receivers, and a field goal would have given the Lions a 15-13 lead.

But Caldwell rolled the dice and kept his offense on the field, at a time when he had two back-ups playing on the offensive line.

Yes, two back-ups. That makes it all the more puzzling. You probably know what happened next.

It was the moment you screamed in frustration at this Lions team, which felt awfully familiar.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped back to pass. Marvin Jones was being guarded by Joe Haden, who had safety help over the top.

“They dropped eight guys, seven guys into coverage in that play,” Stafford said. “They doubled (Eric) Ebron, or played three for two over the left. I think they did a nice job on (Darren) Fells over the middle. I thought I had a chance to make a play to Dwayne (Washington) or run it in. As I was about to do something, I got hit.”

Everybody was covered. A hole opened up and Stafford decided to run for it.

And he was tackled for a loss.

“I thought I had a chance to step up and make a play,” Stafford said. “Their guys did a great job of rallying and tackling me.”

More Lions-Steelers:

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From that point on, everything changed. Three plays later, the Lions were chasing JuJu Smith-Schuster on a 97-yard TD catch. And the Lions were chasing the Steelers the rest of the game.

“Against a team like that, against a good football team, unless you score touchdowns, it’s very difficult to beat them kicking field goals all day,” Caldwell said.

I would understand that philosophy in a wild shootout, but not this game. Not in the third quarter. Not at a time when the Lions had a chance to take the lead.

And then he changed his philosophy later in the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Lions faced fourth-and-goal from the 1. And this time, Caldwell decided to kick it and Prater booted a 19-yarder.

“We tried to be aggressive and go for it the first time around,” Caldwell said. “The game was a little bit later on, the next time around, so we kicked it and still gave ourselves a chance to win it a couple of times, just couldn’t get it done. A turnover and just ineffectiveness.”

Put it another way: The truth dawned on him.

The Lions failed five times in the red zone and three times in goal-to-go situations. Clearly, giving the ball to backup running back Dwayne Washington wasn’t working.

“We missed here and there,” Caldwell said. “We didn’t protect well enough down there. We didn’t run the ball well enough down there.

One thing that shouldn’t be lost in this game was the play of the offensive line, at least outside of the red zone. Stafford was sacked just two times, despite passing behind a makeshift line that started Brian Mihalik at left tackle.

Mihalik played the first 27 offensive snaps of his career two weeks ago against the Saints.

“I think Mihalik came in and played really well,” Stafford said. “He stepped in against a good front. Those guys get after the quarterback, bring a bunch of blitzes.”

Backs were coming up and stopping the blitz, and for the most part the line did a solid job in protection. Stafford threw for 423 yards, but he just couldn’t get the Lions into the end zone.

“There are positives to take away from this,” Stafford said. “But there is obviously some negatives we have to clean up…. I think, if we would have put it into the end zone, you would have called it a breakout performance.”

Instead, it was a breakdown performance.

A game when the Lions were left kicking themselves.

For not kicking it when they had the chance.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel/