Detroit, MI
Detroit Lions fans shouldn’t overreact to 1 bad loss. Or should they?
DETROIT – It’s only one game.
Only one game.
One. Game.
If you say it enough times, you’ll start to believe it, right? I sure hope so for the sake of Detroit Lions fans after they spent Week 1 watching their team get punked up and down the field by the rival Green Bay Packers.
Lambeau Field has been the site of Detroit’s greatest conquests during the Dan Campbell era. There was the upset that knocked Green Bay out of the playoffs and ended the Aaron Rodgers era. There was the Thursday night beatdown of 2023, and the Kerby Joseph pick-six last year.
But Sunday was a completely different story. The Packers, who came in riding the momentum of the Micah Parsons trade, marched 83 yards for a touchdown to open the game and never looked back.
If not for a garbage time touchdown, the Lions would have lost by 21 points and failed to find the end zone entirely.
The postgame stats don’t tell the full story. The Lions got embarrassed.
The reason fans shouldn’t panic: It’s Week 1. There are 16 games remaining, and the Lions were a 15-2 team a year ago. Almost the entire core of that NFC No. 1 seed is back, so it would be preposterous to sound the alarm after one bad game.
But there’s also some reason for concern.
It would be one thing if the Lions lost because Jared Goff turned the ball over a few times. Or Amon-Ra St. Brown dropped a couple of passes. Or David Montgomery lost a key fumble.
We’ve seen enough from those guys to know they’re going to be just fine. The reason this Lions loss is so concerning: Everything the pessimists were worried about coming into the year played out exactly as they feared.
These issues didn’t come out of nowhere. And that makes them feel so much more legitimate.
If you’d asked Lions fans what worried them the most coming into 2025, many would have answered one of these three:
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A lack of pass rush opposite Aidan Hutchinson.
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Replacing two elite coordinators with complete unknowns.
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An offensive line that lost two of its top three players.
On the very first drive of the game, the pass rush problems were glaringly obvious. The Lions got absolutely no pressure on Jordan Love, allowing him to stand patiently in the pocket and complete passes downfield on three critical third downs.
The Lions finished the game with no sacks and two QB hits. It’s no coincidence that they failed to force a single turnover.
It was also a troubling first performance for offensive coordinator John Morton. Only a phenomenal acrobatic catch from rookie Isaac TeSlaa saved the Lions from getting shut out of the end zone.
No coordinator is going to be perfect, and Ben Johnson is a very tough act to follow. But Morton certainly didn’t want his debut to result in Detroit’s worst offensive output since a 2023 loss to the Bears.
One key series in particular felt mismanaged by Morton. The Lions were trailing by 11 points to start the first quarter and took a sack on the first play, setting up a second and 17 from the 1-yard line.
Morton waved the proverbial white flag, running twice up the middle for no gain and punting from the back of the end zone — a decision that led directly to a Packers touchdown drive on a short field.
No, you don’t want to get tackled for a safety, but it really felt like the Lions had to get on the board during that drive to stand a chance, and Morton didn’t give Goff, St. Brown. Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, and company any opportunity to make a great play.
Recent Lions teams never played scared. It felt like Morton did in that moment.
Then there’s the offensive line.
This is probably the most concerning part of the opener, because the O-line has been the heart and soul of the Lions during their recent ascension.
Well, the first game without their leader, center Frank Ragnow, went disastrously.
Detroit gave up four sacks, nine QB hits, and rushed for just 2.1 yards per carry. The Lions had one run longer than 6 yards. One.
Penei Sewell had his hands full against Parsons for much of the night, but the rest of the crew really struggled. Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow have hit steep declines since 2023. Rookie Tate Ratledge really struggled in his debut, and second-year guard Christian Mahogany wasn’t much better.
Maybe the Packers have a really strong defensive front. But either way, it wasn’t the sort of response Lions fans were hoping to see after losing Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler.
We all know the Lions have elite weapons on offense and playmakers at all three levels on D. But after that Week 1 performance, there are two major questions:
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How strong are the Lions in the trenches, which has been the foundation for their success the past three years?
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Are the Lions destined for some 2023 Philadelphia Eagles-like regression after losing booth coordinators?
A lot can change week-to-week in the NFL, so the Lions might come out against the Bears next weekend and silence all the doubters. But it’s hard not to feel a bit cynical after this first performance.
Especially since it came against the Packers.
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DETROIT – What started as a seemingly routine home repair quickly unraveled into something far more troubling for one Detroit family.
A man appeared to be posing as a contractor — arriving in construction gear and accompanied by two teens — showed up April 7 at a west side Detroit home, offering to do brick work for about $300. But according to the homeowner’s daughter, the situation started to seem fishy — and expensive — fast.
Tameka Kelly said the trio told her 76-year-old mother they were with “State Line Construction” and began working almost immediately.
“I just felt used and taken advantage of,” Kelly said, looking back at the situation.
“They kept working — kept putting cement down, I said, ‘you might want to tell them to stop.’ He said, ‘well right now it’s $1129.’ I said, ‘my mother‘s not paying you $1000,’” Kelly said.
At one point, the man even offered to repair the bottom of the home’s wheelchair ramp — something Kelly said her sister, who lives with her mother, relies on daily. But she refused because something just didn’t sit right.
“I gave him the $300,” Kelly said, hoping they would just leave. “I thought, well, he knows where my mom lives. I don’t want him coming back trying to do something to my mom‘s house or something to our vehicles.”
Kelly later tried to confront the man, who identified himself as Brian Lopez, and called the number on the invoice.
“When I called he was like, ‘no no no brickwork no brickwork’ I said, ‘yes you did. You were just here. I said I don’t forget a voice,’” she said.
But the biggest red flag came when she looked closer at the address listed on the invoice.
The address — 70 West Maple in Troy — turned out to be a McDonald’s.
“I really got upset when I found out that address was to a McDonald’s,” Kelly said.
Initially, Kelly said when she tried to file a report with Detroit police, she said they told her the situation was a civil matter and she could not file one. She then filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
Now, Detroit police tell Local 4 they will be taking Kelly’s fraud report, and once that is completed, an investigation will follow.
State Line initially told Local 4 they were not familiar with a Brian Lopez, then an attorney for State Line construction told Local 4 that, after checking the company’s records, there is no Brian Lopez that works for the company. As a matter of fact, the attorney said, State Line Construction does not do cement or residential construction. He said they focus on electrical work.
Attempts by Local 4 to reach the man going by the name Brian Lopez with the number given were unsuccessful.
Kelly said she felt compelled to speak up to prevent others from falling victim.
“I’m really upset about it, and I don’t want it to happen to anybody else,” she said.
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Pistons vs Magic Game 1 reaction, lessons learned and what must change
Omari Sankofa II, Shawn Windsor and special guest Bryce Simon react to Detroit Pistons’ Game 1 NBA playoff loss to Orlando Magic, April 19, 2026, at Little Caesars Arena.
How in the world did things get so bad so fast for the Detroit Pistons?
In just one outing in the 2026 NBA playoffs, they went from top-seeded darlings of the Eastern Conference to punching bags punked by an 8-seed short on rest but long on resilience and toughness.
“I would say they ‘outphysical-ed’ us today,” Pistons wing Ausar Thompson said after the Orlando Magic stole Game 1 of the first-round NBA playoff series, 112-101, at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, April 19. “One, because they got more rebounds than us. They forced more turnovers.”
Yes, this was always going to be a physical series. Though you would think the Pistons, owners of the NBA’s second-best defense and playing at home, would have a sizable advantage.
It also should have helped them that they were coming off six days’ rest, as opposed to the Magic coming off winning a play-in game just 47 hours earlier.
It didn’t help that Pistons star Cade Cunnigham was playing in just his fourth game since suffering a collapsed lung and missing 11 games. He scored a game-high 39 points, but he didn’t operate as smoothly as usual, with just four assists (far off his 9.9-assist season average) while committing three turnovers.
Another indictment of the Pistons’ worrisome play: Tobias Harris (19 points) was Cunningham’s only teammate who scored in double digits. Meanwhile, all five Magic staters did so, led by Paolo Banchero’s 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting.
And just like that, the Magic came out firing, scoring 35 points in the first quarter and never trailing.
“Yeah, just that we came out a little too tight, lax, whatever the word is, maybe both for some of us, but just didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said. “Gave them life further on. And then, you know, we had to deal with that for the rest of the game. We were better in stints, but can’t dig a hole like that.”
He’s right. The Pistons can’t dig a hole like that in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Because if they do, and they lose, the Magic would not only have homecourt advantage – they got that with Sunday’s victory – but could close out the series without another win in Detroit, with three of the next four games coming in Orlando.
That’s precisely what makes Game 2 a must-win game for the Pistons. It’s bad enough they lost the opener at LCA, where they were 31-9. But now they’ve let the Magic set a hard-edged tone in the kind of the game that could lead them to steal the series.
“I know that they feel great about this game,” Cunningham said. “This was a big win for them. They came in, they handled their business and stole one on the road. That’s what you want to do in the playoff series.
“So I’m sure that they feel great about that. Obviously, we’re sick about losing this one. It’s a long series, though. There’s no confidence dropped from us. We know that team. They know us. So it’ll be a long, fun series.”
Cunningham might be right, because the Pistons are arguably the better team. They have enough talent and more depth.
What the Pistons don’t have is the advantage of desperation. They had an excellent season from start to finish, closed with a 60-22 record, and wrapped up the East’s top seed on April 4.
The Magic, meanwhile, have been playing with fire (and not always the good kind) down the stretch, while their fifth-year coach, Jamahl Mosley, entered the postseason on the hottest of hot seats after his squad went 0-7 in road playoff games over the past two seasons.
To make things even worse, the Magic lost the regular-season finale to the Boston Celtics – well, their reserves, at least – to blow their chance at the 7-seed and homecourt in the play-in tournament. Then Orlando lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (on the road, of course) in the first play-in game before beating the Charlotte Hornets (in Orlando) to advance to a best-of-seven series – featuring four road games – vs. the Pistons.
Now, it looks like the Magic have found their form, as they routed the Hornets, 121-90, and stunned the Pistons. And just like that, Mosley went from hot seat to just plain hot.
Banchero wouldn’t go so far as to say the victory set up his team to steal the series, but he didn’t deny it was exactly the kind of start Orlando needed.
“It’s just a good win for us as a team getting it on the road against a great team and 1-seed,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we got to come back Wednesday, you know, reciprocate it, you know?
“They’re not going to lay down. They’re going to turn it up. So we’ve got to be ready for that. And it’s just one-game-at-a-time mentality, you know? That’s what it’s got to be. It’s the first of four.”
Yes, it’s just the first of four wins the Magic needs to advance. If the Pistons don’t find an answer quickly, the math – and hardly anyone else – won’t be on their side when they head to Central Florida this weekend.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
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