ALLEN PARK — For the second Sunday in a row, local television programmers won’t have to worry about a Lions game.

This time, however, it’s not because they’re on a bye week.

For the third time in four home game weeks so far this season, the Lions have not achieved sellout status by the NFL’s stipulated deadline of 72 hours before kickoff. In Week 2, the Lions got a 24-hour extension, enabling them to sell out the home opener, but were blacked out for the game against the Redskins on Sept. 27.

The Lions will again be blacked out locally for Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams, as team spokesmen said Thursday that the organization had not been able to sell the “more than 10,000 tickets” that remained as of Wednesday.

Steelers fans bought up the unsold tickets for the Oct. 11 game at Ford Field, the only time the Lions have met the 1 p.m. Thursday deadline this year.

If the Lions are, in fact, able to keep the visiting Rams (0-7) winless, their fans still will not have seen a Detroit win on television since Dec. 23, 2007. There is no betting line on the game, pinning the Lions as favorites, but the Rams have won just one more game than the Lions over the past season-plus.