Detroit, MI
Detroit Lions have NFL’s second-longest active championship drought at 67 years
Detroit Lions fans share personal stories of family, tradition
We asked Detroit Lions fans to share their stories. Many talked about family tradition, and how Lions fandom was passed down to them.
The Detroit Lions are trying to shed some franchise history during the 2025 NFL playoffs.
The Lions are the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the first time and host the Washington Commanders Saturday in the divisional round. With a win, the Lions could reach the NFC championship game for a second consecutive year and host the game for the first time in franchise history.
If the Lions can win two playoff games against Washington and then the winner of the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams, Detroit they would reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. They are the only NFC team to never reach the big game.
The Lions’ history has not been kind regarding championships. Detroit is one of 12 teams not to win a Super Bowl since it began in the 1966 season. The Lions are one of seven teams to win a championship before the Super Bowl era but haven’t won in the 66 seasons since their 1957 triumph.
The Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans (then known as the Houston Oilers), Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills are the other teams to have a championship in history but no Super Bowl.
NFL longest active championship droughts
The Lions have the second-longest active drought, trailing the Cardinals by a decade. The Lions, who won four NFL championships, most recently finished at the top of the league in 1957 (other championship years are 1935, 1952 and 1953). Famously after the 1957 championship, the Lions traded quarterback Bobby Layne, who starred on the three championship teams, and he cursed the franchise for 50 years without another championship.
The Lions are now at 67 years, but might have gotten some recent help from actor and fan Jeff Daniels.
The Cardinals, along with the Chicago Bears, are the oldest team in NFL history founded in 1920. The Cardinals have two championships, but last won in 1947 when they were based in Chicago. Their championship drought is at 77 years. The Cardinals lost in a classic Super Bowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers to conclude the 2008 season.
The Oilers won their only two championships in the AFL in 1960-61.
The Chargers won their only championship in the AFL in 1963.
The Bills won consecutive AFL championships in 1964-65.
The Vikings won the NFL championship in 1969 but lost Super Bowl 4 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the final season before the AFL and NFL merged into one league.
Five franchises founded during the Super Bowl era — the Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers — have never won a championship.
The four teams without a Super Bowl appearance are the Lions, Browns, Texans and Jaguars, though the Lions are the only team to play in every season of the Super Bowl era and still be left out.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
Stay tuned for the best Lions coverage throughout the playoffs and all year long at freep.com/sports/lions.
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Detroit, MI
5 things to watch: Lions at Commanders
The Detroit Lions are looking to get back to their winning ways today in Washington against the Commanders. Detroit has won their last 12 games coming off a loss and haven’t dropped back-to-back contests since October of 2022.
Here are five things to watch out for in today’s matchup:
Quarterback Jared Goff was sacked a season-high five times last week in a loss to Minnesota and he was hit 11 times total as the Vikings were credited with 26 total pressures in that contest.
Minnesota took advantage of some protection breakdowns and mismatches and to their credit schemed up some nice pressure packages Detroit didn’t handle well. Detroit rushed for just 65 yards and Minnesota also racked up 10 tackles for loss.
“Sunday wasn’t up to our standard at all,” All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell said this week “One of our worst performances and we just have to be better in terms of throughout the week communications-wise and game-plan-wise and we have to come together at the end of the day and be on the same page.”
Washington ranks 12th in the NFL with 22 sacks but their leading sacker, Dorance Armstrong Jr. (5.5), was recently placed on injured reserve. Edge rusher Jacob Martin has 3.5 sacks on the year.
Detroit, MI
Here’s the snow forecast for Metro Detroit heading into next week
We only need about a tenth of an inch of snow to officially mark our first accumulating snowfall of the season, and it looks like we’ll reach that threshold, especially by Monday.
Late Sunday night, any lingering rain and snow showers will transition fully to snow showers across the entire region.
This change is driven by a northwest wind flow kicking in, which is typical for lake-effect snow events in this area.
These snow showers are expected to continue through Monday, bringing that first real taste of winter.
This lake-effect snow event won’t just bring snow — it will also usher in a reinforcing shot of colder air to start the week.
After highs in the mid to upper 40s on Friday, temperatures will drop into the upper 30s by Sunday and continue falling into the mid-30s by Monday.
This will be well below average for this time of year, signaling a chilly start to the week.
As we move into Tuesday and Wednesday, the forecast calls for some lingering cloud cover, but temperatures will begin to rebound.
Highs are expected to climb back to around 40 degrees on Tuesday and then into the upper 40s by Wednesday, bringing a bit of a warm-up after the cold snap.
By Thursday, another weather system will bring a chance of rain showers to the region.
High temperatures are forecast to remain in the mid-40s, keeping things relatively mild despite the chance of rain.
Looking ahead to the end of the week, drier weather and some sunshine are expected to return by Friday.
Temperatures should hold steady in the mid-40s, providing a more comfortable finish to the week.
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Detroit, MI
‘Overwhelmed’ family man Sergei Fedorov relishing celebrating Detroit Red Wings history
Sergei Fedorov & Nicklas Lidström on Red Wings careers: ‘Overwhelming’
Former Detroit Red Wings superstars Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidström, Nov. 7, 2025 in Detroit.
Sergei Fedorov, cutting a trim, fit figure that makes him look like he could still suit up and play, tried to explain what it’s like for him to be in Detroit this weekend as part of a Red Wings celebration of franchise history.
“It’s tough, to be honest with you,” he said. “As soon as I landed, a lot of thoughts came, a lot of memories came, and it’s still overwhelming.
“I’m trying to control myself, but it’s great to see you guys. I follow Red Wings from Moscow from time to time.”
Fedorov, the dynamic, extraordinary talent the Wings plucked from the fourth round of the 1989 NHL draft, back when the Iron Curtain still hung like a figurative wall around the Soviet Union, was at Little Caesars Arena on Friday, Nov. 7, as part of the team’s centennial celebration fan fest. It was his second visit to the Wings’ new home; he spent his playing years, from 1990 to 2003, at Joe Louis Arena, where he played a crucial role in the Wings winning the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2002.
He’ll be back again on Jan. 12, when the Wings retire his No. 91. Fedorov called it a tremendous honor.
“Thoughts are very simple,” he said. “I got lucky to play with the greatest players in the game, coaches, staff. And I cannot thank enough ownership that gave me a chance to send a plane to Portland, Oregon, to get me. Mr. Ilitch’s family did a great job. I’m glad we won. Finally, we won.”
Fedorov sat next to fellow 1989 draftee Nicklas Lidström in an interview with reporters Friday evening. The Wings asked the budding superstar defenseman from Sweden to stay home from the draft so as not to tip off any teams, enabling them to grab him in the third round.
When the Wings drafted Fedorov at No. 74, there were snickers from competing teams because he might never be able to come to the NHL. But taking a page worthy of a John Le Carré novel, the Wings got their man during an exhibition game in Portland in the lead-up to the Goodwill Games. A hotel key was slipped under a door. A team employee collected Fedorov’s belongings while he was at the game. Another employee waiting in the lobby, a signal for Fedorov to follow him to a taxi that idled nearby (the driver had been tipped $100 to not ask questions). Mike Ilitch’s private plane, ready for takeoff.
Fedorov made his NHL debut that fall and it didn’t take long to show why the Wings chanced a pick on him. In 1993-94 he became the first Russian to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. Three years later, he hoisted the Cup.
“Sergei had a tremendous career,” Lidström said. “When I came to the Wings, I think he came the year before I came, Sergei was already a star when I joined the team. A couple of years later, he was a superstar in the NHL. Hart Trophy winner, Stanley Cup winner. He won everything, so it’s well-deserved to see his jersey go up in the rafters, too.”
The Wings retired Lidström’s No. 5 soon after he retired in 2012. Fedorov’s departure as a free agent in 2003 caused a rift that didn’t heal until he (together with Lidström) was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
Now, it’s the memories that matter – from the disappointment of the playoffs in the early to mid 1990s to relief – that linger.
“We had a few disappointing seasons, but we never thought we cannot have done it,” Fedorov said. “The fans drove us, supported us, win or lose, bad or good. It was an amazing platform for us to continue this hard working process until eventually to get that precious trophy to the city, to the state, to the fans.
“Those parades, over one million people. I think it was a sea of people. It was a tremendous honor to be on that stage and speak to all those people who really want us to succeed. And really thank God we did it. This kind of winning attitude, winning manner helped one another.”
Fedorov, 55, returned to Russia in 2009 having played 1,248 NHL games. After playing in the KHL, he turned to coaching CSKA Moscow, last doing so in 2023-24. Fedorov still resides in Moscow with his wife and two children, and after a lifetime of being on the road and answering the grueling demands of professional hockey, he’s enjoying a low profile.
” I want to stay with the family and grow together with my kids and be around,” Fedorov said.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her books: “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of Hockeytown,” and “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
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