Connect with us

Detroit, MI

Lions’ Hutchinson fights through illness, delivers two sacks, draws victory-saving flag

Published

on

Lions’ Hutchinson fights through illness, delivers two sacks, draws victory-saving flag


Detroit — Between each answer at his postgame press conference, Aidan Hutchinson couldn’t hide his sniffles. A bug has been hitting the Detroit Lions defensive line for a month, even sidelining John Cominsky for the season finale. It just happened to bite Hutchinson Saturday morning, a day before the franchise’s first home playoff game in thirty years.

“I woke up yesterday with a little something and endurance was cut a little bit today,” Hutchinson said. “But we’ll be good in a couple days. I just told Romeo (Okwara), ‘Be ready. Every three or four plays, I might need a sub.’ But this moment was way bigger than everything.”

Advertisement

That’s the thing about Hutchinson, he typically has to be dragged off the field. He logged more than 90% of the team’s defensive snaps this season, reaffirming his reputation as a rare iron man at his position. But even if he wasn’t feeling himself against the Los Angeles Rams, he carried his hot streak from the end of the regular season, sacking quarterback Matthew Stafford twice and adding three quarterback hits.

“Like I told you guys, I heat up late in the season,” Hutchinson said. “It’s playoff time. I’ve been waiting for my opportunity in the playoffs and I just want to make the most of every (chance) I get.”

Hist biggest play doesn’t even show up in the stat sheet. With the Rams in field-goal range for a potential go-ahead field goal in the closing minutes, Hutchinson shot off the left edge of the defensive formation and forced the Rams right tackle to drag him to the ground, drawing a flag for holding that pushed the Rams out of kicker Brett Maher’s range. A pass breakup on the next snap resulted in a punt and gave the Lions a chance to run out the clock.

“I was going for the strip-sack, but I just missed it,” Hutchinson said. “I think I could have gotten it. That would have probably closed the game out. Next time, I just gotta get that ball out.”

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Advertisement

@Justin_Rogers



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Detroit, MI

Lessons Lions Can Learn From Epic Texans Win

Published

on

Lessons Lions Can Learn From Epic Texans Win


The Detroit Lions overcame a myriad of mistakes to steal an impressive road win over the Houston Texans and extend their winning streak to seven games.

In the game, the Lions trailed by as many as 16 points before shutting out the Texans in the second half and rallying to win on a last-second Jake Bates field goal.

Detroit was able to overcome five Jared Goff interceptions and a Houston defense that was schemed to take away many of the offense’s strongest points. As a result, opposing teams may have a template on how to slow down their potent offense.

“Moving forward, the Lions have to be aware of the fact that teams are gonna try to deploy, whether it’s the two-high shell that teams used to do to Kansas City when they had Tyreek Hill or other things of that nature,” said co-host Christian Booher. “Every team is gonna think they have the answer coming in, and so it should make for a lot of fun tests for Ben Johnson to try to out-scheme some of these defensive coordinators. Houston did an excellent job, and the Lions had all the right counter-punches at the end of that game.”

Advertisement

MORE: Film Review: What Went Wrong With Jared Goff Against Texans

Though it was tough at times, the Lions ultimately overcame the struggles to steal the win. Part of the comeback was an intangible showing, as their grit proved once again that they can overcome even the toughest elements of winning a game.

“There’s also an intangible part of this, and it’s the grit. When it’s winning time, you make winning plays. It doesn’t matter who’s number is called, that person is ready to go. (Sunday), it was Amon-Ra St. Brown on that third down,” Booher said. “Really, that’s another element that I don’t think teams are gonna be able to take away. If you want to beat the Lions, you’ve got to blow them out. If it’s whithin seven points in the fourth quarter, or 16 points at halftime, it does not matter. The Lions are gonna be in it at the end, and with that culture, they’re gonna have everything they need to go and win a game.”

The latest ‘Lone Wolves’ podcast explores the Lions’ defensive success under Aaron Glenn, Jared Goff’s struggles and Jake Bates’ ascent into becoming one of the league’s best kickers.

Don’t miss any future episodes of the podcast. Make sure to subscribe to the Lone Wolves podcast, which is available everywhere your favorite podcasts are housed.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers Skipper Tabbed as AL Manager of the Year Finalist

Published

on

Detroit Tigers Skipper Tabbed as AL Manager of the Year Finalist


It’s been quite a long road for AJ Hinch. From being let go as part of the infamous Houston Astros scandal to leading the Detroit Tigers back to the playoffs for the first time in a decade, Hinch has led plenty of great baseball teams in his time.

The Tigers finished the regular season 86-76 and earned the third wild card berth in the AL. They finished as one of the hottest teams in baseball. After selling off nearly half of a dozen players at the trade deadline, the Tigers finished the season on a 31-13 run, eliminating a 10-game deficit.

Hinch had to navigate having one of the youngest rosters in baseball and did so quite well, considering that red-hot run.

Year over year, Hinch improved the Tigers. In 2023, 28 finished with bWAR over 0.0, 13 of whom played in at least 50 games, led by Eduardo Rodriguez’s 3.4.

Advertisement

This year, 33 players did so with 15 players with at least 50 games played, led by MLB co-leader and AL Cy Young finalist, Tarik Skubal.

This is Hinch’s third time as a finalist for Manager of the Year. With the Astros, he finished second in 2015 and third in 2017. In 2018, he was just outside the finalists at fourth and he finished fifth in 2019. Then, he took over the Tigers in 2021 and received votes to end up seventh.

This year, he’s up against two AL Central rival managers, Kansas City Royals’ Matt Qautraro and Cleveland Guardians’ first-year skipper, Stephen Vogt. Oddly enough, Hinch’s Tigers were 6-7 against both the Royals and Guardians in 2024.

If Hinch were to win the award, he would be just the third Tigers manager to do so (and fourth award), joining Hall of Famers, Jim Leyland (2006) and Sparky Anderson (1984 and 1987).



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Detroit, MI

Live thread: Dolphins at Rams on ‘Monday Night Football’

Published

on

Live thread: Dolphins at Rams on ‘Monday Night Football’


The Miami Dolphins (2-6) and Los Angeles Rams (4-4) will close out Week 10 with a cross-conference battle on “Monday Night Football.” These two teams have met just 14 times in their histories, with the Dolphins holding a 12-2 lead, including winning 11 of the last 12 matchups.

The Rams are on a three-game win streak and are working their way out of injury purgatory. With wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back in the mix, Matthew Stafford is cooking once again. Additionally, the Rams also activated two of their starting interior offensive lineman—Jonah Jackson and Steve Avila—on Monday, as the offense continues to heal.

Speaking of getting healthy, the Dolphins returned Tua Tagovailoa two weeks ago and the offense has come back to life. In the four games he missed, the Dolphins scored less than 15 points in each game, but upon his return, they’ve dropped 27 points in back-to-back weeks. The downside is that their defense gave up 30 points to the Bills and 28 points to the Cardinals, losing both games.

Betting line and pick for the game

Advertisement

The folks over at FanDuel Sportsbook are slightly favoring the home team in this game and have set the betting line at Rams -2.5 points. Both offenses can score, which lends itself to likely being an entertaining game to watch. The difference for me is their recent performances, where the Rams have found a way to win their last three while the Dolphins have lost their last three.

Prediction: Rams 27-24

Here’s how to watch tonight’s “Monday Night Football” game:

Dolphins at Rams

Date: Monday, November 11, 2024
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California
TV: ESPN
ESPN Announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Lisa Salters (field reporter)
ESPN 2: The Manningcast will return in Week 11
Online Streaming: ESPN+, ESPN APP, NFL Sunday Ticket via YouTube, NFL+ Premium

Enjoy the game and come chat with us in the comments.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending