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Lions ‘took the reins off the D-line’ in five-sack win over Cowboys

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Lions ‘took the reins off the D-line’ in five-sack win over Cowboys


Detroit — Speaking to reporters Tuesday, defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard teased the potential for personnel and schematic tweaks.

The Detroit Lions were coming off an outing in which they never sacked Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love. They had four sacks in their last four games, and only 2½ of those came from the defensive line. Sheppard, asked if the lack of a pass rush was hurting his ability to run as much man coverage as he usually likes, was blunt in his assessment: “I don’t think we’ve affected the quarterback to play any style these past couple weeks.”

Changes were needed, and changes were seemingly made.

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“They kind of took the reins off the D-line a little bit this week in an effort to create more,” defensive end Aidan Hutchinson said following Detroit’s 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday. “If I had to guess, it’s how we’ll move forward.”

Took the reins off?

“How do I explain it? Just getting off the ball, even when it could be (a run), it might be (a) run. It’s just really having more of a pass mentality,” Hutchinson said. “Because where teams get us a lot is that block-it-up, (play action pass), eight-man protection, and then (the QB’s) sitting back there and hitting us. It’s getting faster on those transitions and stuff, it’s been an emphasis. I think we did that today, for sure.”

Indeed they did. The Lions sacked Dak Prescott five times, an impressive feat against a quarterback who has been so skilled at escaping danger. Heading into Thursday, opposing defenses had converted only 10.3% of their pressures against Prescott into sacks. That was the third-lowest rate in the NFL among the 42 QBs who had dropped back at least 100 times this season.

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Three of Detroit’s sacks came from defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, who now leads the team in sacks (nine) through 13 games. Muhammad played 33 snaps against the Cowboys, his most since Week 7. The ninth-year pro said he wasn’t sure how much opportunity he’d receive Thursday, but he was prepared to make the most of whatever he was given.

“I’m just taking it one snap at a time, and then at the end of the game I realized, ‘OK, I did play a lot. I did play a little bit more than normal.’ I don’t really care about the snaps. I don’t focus on the snaps,” Muhammad said. “I let the coaches make whatever decisions they decide to make. I know they have our best interest at heart.”

Muhammad has 12 sacks in his time with the Lions, which spans 22 games over two seasons; he was signed to the practice squad last October before being brought up to the active roster one month later. Before joining the Lions, Muhammad had 12 sacks in 84 appearances, dating back to when he was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

“It wasn’t just me,” Muhammad said of his three sacks against the Cowboys. “It was a collective effort. There’s other guys out there that’s on the field rushing, as well. Shoutout to the other guys in our room, and shoutout to the defense. … When I did get some opportunties to win the one-on-ones, I won the one-on-ones. But, most importantly, it’s a collective effort.”

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Detroit, MI

Bruce Campbell announces cancer diagnosis; ‘Fear not,’ he tells fans

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Bruce Campbell announces cancer diagnosis; ‘Fear not,’ he tells fans



Treatment will delay the Royal Oak-born actor’s plans to tour his new film ‘Ernie & Emma’ this summer.

Royal Oak-born movie star and cult hero Bruce Campbell announced on social media on Monday that he has been diagnosed cancer — a type that is “treatable” but not “curable,” he said.

“I apologize if that’s a shock — it was to me too,” the “Evil Dead” star, 67, wrote in a message posted to Instagram.

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He went on to say “I’m not gonna go into any more detail,” and he didn’t. He said the public announcement had to do with scaling back appearances on his schedule, including tour dates behind his latest film, “Ernie & Emma.”

Campbell planned to show the movie June 5 at the Redford Theatre; as of Monday night, that date is still on the Redford schedule, but Campbell wrote in his note he plans to get “as well as I possibly can over the summer so that I can tour with my new movie ‘Ernie & Emma’ this fall.”

The movie is written, directed by and stars Campbell as a man who goes on a journey following the death of his wife. Campbell produced the movie alongside his wife, Ida Gearon, and filmed it in Oregon, where he now lives.

Campbell told The News in January he dedicated “Ernie & Emma” to his childhood moviemaking pals, including Scott Spiegel, who died of a heart attack in September 2025.

“It’s a callback to the carefree days of Super 8, where we could do whatever the f–k we wanted to do,” Campbell said of “Ernie & Emma.” “So I thought, ‘All the boys are responsible for this,’ so they’re all in there.”

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Campbell got his start making movies around Metro Detroit with his childhood pal, Sam Raimi. Campbell starred in Raimi’s “Evil Dead” trilogy and has since appeared in most of Raimi’s films; Campbell makes a brief appearance in a photograph in the background of an early scene in Raimi’s latest, “Send Help.”

He’s also an author; Campbell’s autobiography “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor” was published in 2001.

In his post on social media, Campbell thanked fans and said he was not out to elicit sympathy.

“Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-bitch and I have great support, so I expect to be around for a while,” he wrote.

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Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:

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Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:


“Slow down and move over” is the message that Michigan State Police is sending to drivers after one of its troopers in a parked patrol car was struck while investigating a crash this weekend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene.

Michigan State Police tells CBS News Detroit that we’re two months into the year, and it has had six incidents across the state where patrol cars were struck by oncoming vehicles. One of those incidents occurred on Sunday evening.

“Could have been much more tragic,” said MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez, First District public information officer.

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Michigan State Police


Gonzalez says on Sunday, an MSP trooper was near M-10 and Schaefer Highway in Detroit, simply doing his job, when his patrol car was hit from behind.

“Trooper was out there, and he was investigating a crash when, at the time, a Jeep SUV drove into the rear of the parked vehicle,” Gonzalez said.

The impact slid the trooper’s car into a concrete wall. The 29-year-old Detroit woman driving the Jeep SUV struck the center median, got out of the vehicle, and ran away.

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“Not sure why they did it. Maybe not paying attention if they were distracted. They’re attempting to locate her at this time,” said Lt. Gonzalez.

The trooper walked away with minor injuries. Gonzalez says this incident is an example of why Michigan’s Move Over Law was put in place many years ago. The law, which went into effect in 2019, requires drivers to move over into the next lane and reduce their speed by at least 10 mph when emergency or service vehicles — police, fire, rescue, ambulance and road service — have their lights activated. 

Drivers who are not able to move over are still required to reduce their speed.

“Trying to do our jobs, however, people are not paying attention. The law is easy. It’s simple. You see us, you see our lights activated, you have to slow down ten miles below the posted speed limit, and then if able, move over to the next occupied available lane,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez says crashes like this can be deadly and often avoided.

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“One life lost over something that was a totally preventable crash, it’s way too much. We’re asking that you slow down and move over when you see our lights. It’s a simple message that we’ve been pushing out for years,” he said.

Sunday’s crash remains under investigation. Michigan State Police detectives are still working to track down the 29-year-old suspect.

In the meantime, police are out enforcing the Move Over Law.



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Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit

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Rex Satterfield’s 1956 Bel Air takes 2026 Ridler Award in Detroit


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Rex Satterfield hoped to see his 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible snag one of the BASF Great 8 finalist spots at this year’s Detroit Autorama. But winning the Ridler Award — one of the highest honors in the custom car business — was something he didn’t foresee.

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“It’s just overwhelming right now,” said the man from Russellville, Tennessee, as he left a ballroom at downtown’s Huntington Place and made his way back to the show floor on Sunday, March 1. “We weren’t expecting this.”

Getting a car recognized as one of the BASF Great 8 vehicles is a win in and of itself as they are considered the “absolute pinnacle of custom automotive craftsmanship worldwide,” according to the show. The cars undergo an intensive judging process.

And this effort had an unexpected and emotional complication with the passing in December 2024 of the original builder, Jeff Wolfenbarger, who was battling cancer even as he continued working on the car named “Elegant Lady.”

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Kevin Riffey of Kevin Riffey’s Hot Rods and Restorations in Knoxville stepped in to finish the work Wolfenbarger started. He’d had two other cars in the past make the Great 8. He said the goal with this vehicle was straightforward, calling it a “purpose-built show car.”

From its prominent spot at the front of the show floor, “Elegant Lady” sported a creamy exterior, dubbed Light Coffee. The car carries a 1,000 horsepower Don Hardy race engine. The gauges, wheels and gas tank are custom, and the dash is from a 1956 Pontiac.

Satterfield plans to show the car around some and enjoy the moment with it. He said he’s been a car guy since he was a little kid.

The Ridler Award, named in honor of Detroit Autorama’s first publicist, Don Ridler, comes with a $10,000 prize. It was awarded on the final day of this year’s Detroit Autorama, which ran Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. This was the event’s 73rd year.

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Eric D. Lawrence is the senior car culture reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Send your tips and suggestions about cool automotive stuff to elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.



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