Detroit, MI

Lions vs Bills winners and losers: Detroit’s Super Bowl 2025 chances take big hit

Published

1 year ago

December 16, 2024

Lions vs Bills winners and losers: Detroit’s Super Bowl 2025 chances take big hit

Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett highlights the best and worst performances of the Lions’ 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Ford Field.

The Lions (12-2) lost for the first time in exactly three months — when they also lost at home to Tampa Bay, 20-16, in Week 2 on Sept. 15 — and had their franchise-record 11-game win streak snapped. The Lions will have to wait a week to get a second shot at setting the franchise single-season wins record when they visit division rival Chicago Bears in Week 16.

Lions-Bills winners

Bills QB Josh Allen

Allen was phenomenal Sunday, passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns and running for two more scores. He has five rushing and five passing touchdowns with zero turnovers in the Bills’ past two games and made a handful of improbable throws after extending plays with his legs.

With his performance, Allen cemented his place as this year’s probable MVP.

“Josh Allen just doing Josh Allen things, man,” Lions cornerback Amik Robertson said. “I don’t think they got any standout dog rec(eiver). They didn’t do nothing — for me they didn’t do nothing special, we just didn’t play Lions football today, man, but we’re going to be all right”

Lions S Brian Branch

Branch was one of the few bright spots on a defense that gave up its most points since Week 4 of the 2022 season.

The second-year safety had 15 tackles, two for loss, and a pass breakup. He had a TFL on a first-and-10 play in the third quarter that helped force the Bills’ only punt of the game and a pass breakup in the end zone that forced the Bills to settle for a short field goal they missed late in the second quarter.

The Lions defense has been decimated by injury and is hemorrhaging talent in the front seven, but they still have two of the best safeties in football in Branch and Kerby Joseph.

Lions-Bills losers

Lions OL

The Lions have one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL, but couldn’t run the ball a lick Sunday — 48 yards on 15 carries — and that’s part of why they found themselves in a big early hole. They went 0 yards, 1 yard, minus-2 yards on their first three carries and gave up two sacks in their first six pass attempts.

While the failures were a collective effort, Frank Ragnow (two holding penalties) and Graham Glasgow (a face mask) had especially rough days on the interior trying to block Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver (one sack, three QB hits).

The Lions still rallied for 42 points, so the line wasn’t all bad. But one of the league’s best groups hasn’t been its sharpest in a few weeks and that’s not what this team needs heading into the home stretch.

Lions’ Super Bowl 2025 chances

The Lions are still one of the best teams in the NFL, but it’s indisputable their Super Bowl 59 chances took another hit (or four) with injuries Sunday.

Already down defensive starters Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes and Alex Anzalone, the Lions lost two more defensive starters to major injury Sunday in Alim McNeill and Carlton Davis, gunner/cornerback Khalil Dorsey to a broken leg and running back David Montgomery to an MCL injury.

As good as they’ve been, the Lions are starting to run out of capable bodies, especially on defense. They could lose all four of the players who got injured Sunday for the remainder of the season, and good teams like the Bills and good quarterbacks like Allen are more than capable of exploiting their holes.

On Sunday, the Lions’ decimated linebacking corps struggled to get off blocks and cover Buffalo’s running backs and tight ends in the pass game. Anzalone should return soon, but it might not be enough to save the league’s most injury-ravaged defense.

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

Source link

Click to comment

Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers call up prospect Hao-Yu Lee, place Zach McKinstry on IL

Published

3 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Press Room

Detroit Tigers call up prospect Hao-Yu Lee, place Zach McKinstry on IL

Boston — Not a bad place for big-league debut.

The Tigers on Friday placed Zach McKinstry on the 10-day injured list and called up infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee from Triple-A Toledo. He was in the lineup against the Red Sox, batting eighth at Fenway Park.

“We’re excited for Lee to get his feet wet in the big leagues,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s a good player. We’ve had him in big league camp the last two years. He hits the ball hard and can play good defense. Now he’s getting his first look at one of the cathedrals in our sport for his debut.”

Part of the decision to call up Lee, and not Jace Jung or Trei Cruz, Hinch said, was where the Tigers are in the schedule. Including Friday against Ranger Suarez, the Tigers will be facing six lefties in the next 12 games.

The right-handed hitting Lee slugged .558 with a .969 OPS against lefties last season.

Coming off an oblique injury this spring, which kept him from playing for Chinese Taipei in the WBC, he’s off to a slow start at Toledo (4 for 26).

“He’s been swinging it better than his numbers indicate,” Hinch said. “Results are so finicky this time of year. He’s coming off a good day (Wednesday). He hit a home run. So it’s good timing for that. He’s been hitting it hard and making good decisions on what to swing at.

“And that is key in transitioning from Triple-A to the big leagues.”

McKinstry exited Wednesday night’s game against the Royals ahead of the eighth inning of the Tigers’ 2-1 victory. He fell hard on the hip twice. Once on a head-first slide at the plate and the other after he was tripped up by Royals’ Jac Caglianone.

“He’s pretty beat up,” Hinch said. “We didn’t want to play short-handed but we’re also hoping to get him back quickly.”

McKinstry stayed back in Detroit and is expected to undergo further evaluations.

“He was doing better today than he was yesterday,” Hinch said. “But he clearly needed a break to heal up.”

Lee, 23, was not made available to the media until after the game. He is No. 6 among the Tigers’ top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, and was acquired by the Tigers in an August 2023 trade that sent starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Around the horn

Justin Verlander (hip inflammation) did not make the trip to Boston. “We have to respect the soreness and inflammation that he’s dealing with,” Hinch said. “He’s working out and he’s doing everything. It’s just going a little bit slower. We’re going to respect it and give him the time he needs.”

… Lefty reliever Bailey Horn (elbow), who has had his throwing program paused, received a cortisone shot Thursday.

Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky

Source link

Detroit, MI

Pentagon Reportedly Asks Detroit to Use More Car Factories as Arms Factories

Published

16 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Press Room

Pentagon Reportedly Asks Detroit to Use More Car Factories as Arms Factories

The Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the discussions,” says the Trump Pentagon has urged leaders in the U.S. automotive industry to do more for the war effort. America’s national weapons cache has, it seems, begun to look a bit depleted from all the arms we’ve shipped abroad, and rounds we’ve squeezed off lately—particularly in Ukraine and Iran.

CEOs including Mary Barra of General Motors and Jim Farley of Ford have been among the executives who have sat for talks with high-ranking defense officials about upping the production of arms in what are currently car factories, with labor from people currently employed as automotive workers.

GM, it should be noted, already makes a military vehicle called the Infantry Squad Vehicle or ISV.

In a speech in November of last year, Secretary of Defense/War Pete Hegseth described the industrial effort he’d like to see, but sounded a bit more like ChatGPT than he probably intends:

“We’re not just buying something. We are solving life and death problems for our war fighters. We’re not building for peacetime. We are pivoting the Pentagon and our industrial base to a wartime footing.”

The Pentagon’s statement to the Journal said the Department of Defense/War is “committed to rapidly expanding the defense industrial base by leveraging all available commercial solutions and technologies to ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage.”

Earlier this month, President Trump requested a $1.5 trillion military budget, with an explicit push for an expanded industrial base.

For no particular reason, here’s a flashback to high school history class: Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1940 “Arsenal of Democracy” speech, one of the all-time masterpieces of U.S. war propaganda.

In it, FDR makes the case that the Nazis are a threat to the American way of life, and that our allies need our help fighting them off. We’re not being asked to lay down our lives, he explains, just to come together as government, industry, and workers.

“We must have more ships, more guns, more planes—more of everything. And this can only be accomplished if we discard the notion of ‘business as usual.’ This job cannot be done merely by superimposing on the existing productive facilities the added requirements of the nation for defense.”

It’s utterly convincing, and listening to it today will stir up feelings of determination and patriotism you might have forgotten you could feel. If you feel inclined to listen to it in the current context, and play a little game of compare and contrast, that’s your business.

Source link

Detroit, MI

Where to go for Record Store Day in metro Detroit

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2026

Press Room

Where to go for Record Store Day in metro Detroit

This Saturday is Record Store Day, an industry holiday created in 2008 to support independent record stores when the record industry was in shambles. Every year, music fans and collectors flock to their local shop to see what’s going on, enjoy live music and DJ’s, discounts, and exclusive new releases.

After more than 15 years, we wanted to know how Record Store Day has changed since its inception, and the state of record-collecting today.

To find out The Metro’s David Leins caught up with Dave Lawson, prolific record-collector and host of The Shake Out on WDET, Tuesday nights from 8 to 9 p.m.

He says there is something to enjoy at most every independent record store in Southeast Michigan. In addition to your local shop, these stores are independently owned and have something special on offer.

Detroit

Third Man Records in Cass Corridor Detroit – WDET Broadcasting Live 11am-6pm (Ann Delisi, Rob Reinhart, Jon Moshier). Exclusive WDET/TMR Collaboration RSD Release
People’s Records in Eastern Market, Detroit – Live DJs All Day (DJ Dez, DJ Riff, DJ Head, plus staff and friends)
Ginkgo Records in Corktown (within 27th Letter Books) – 30% off used records, $1 records are 3/$1, Live DJs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Haven’t You Heard, Whodat and more)
Circle Game Records in Brightmoor, Detroit – Large collection of rare jazz LPs hitting the shelves

Downriver / West Side

Hello Records in Lincoln Park – 50% off used stock, 20% new stock, Live DJs all day.
Dearborn Music (two locations: Dearborn and Farmington)* – Always one of the largest carriers of RSD titles

Oakland County

Street Corner Music in Oak Park* – Live DJs from Passenger Radio 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Adam Stanfel, Josh Lange, Pierce Reynolds, Ewolf, Stashu, Kevin Lang).
Found Sound in Ferndale* – Concert Ticket Giveaways. Live music at 5pm from the Custodians and the Idiot Kids. Book signing with Lisa Peers “Motor City Love Song” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Solo Records in Royal Oak – 15% off all store stock
Flipside in Berkley – 20% off used vinyl, games, DVDs, and CDs. Raffle giveaways for concerts and a record player.
UHF in Royal Oak* – Large collection of used stock hitting the shelves

East Side

Ripe Records in Grosse Pointe Park* – 10% off all records (excludes RSD titles), Live bands 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Ricky Rat, Leonard King Orchestra, Sandbox, Surfing Hemi’s, Ethan Marc Band, The Science Fair, Custard Flux, Hush + Bobby J from Rockaway, Severn Road Stardust Collective, Gee Wally, Penarth, The Walktalkers)
Blast from the Past in Roseville* – Open 8 a.m. 30% used vinyl celebrating 30th anniversary
Melodies and Memories in Eastpointe* – Open 8 a.m.
Village Vinyl in Sterling Heights* – Open 8 a.m. 20% off used, 10% off new (excludes RSD titles)
Trax n Wax in St. Clair Shores* – Open 9 a.m. Live DJ Mayume, Coffee from Circa Coffee Co

Ann Arbor

Wazoo Records in Ann Arbor* – Store-exclusive RSD releases, mixtapes, contests and snacks.
Underground Sounds in Ann Arbor*
Your Media Exchange in Ann Arbor*
Encore Records in Ann Arbor*
Ann Arbor District Library, Record Fair – 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Multiple independent record dealers, Live DJs (Dave Lawson and Aaron Batz). Free admission.

Source link