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Lions’ winning ways – and Super Bowl hopes – might be undone by defensive injuries

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Lions’ winning ways – and Super Bowl hopes – might be undone by defensive injuries


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No, Jared Goff. The sky is not falling on the Detroit Lions. At least not yet. 

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The Lions had their NFL-best 11-game winning streak snapped by the Buffalo Bills and electric quarterback Josh Allen in a classic shootout at Ford Field on Sunday. For all the firepower the Lions have as the NFL’s most prolific offense in putting up points, they met their match and couldn’t keep up in the NFL’s highest-scoring game of the season. 

Bills 48. Lions 42. 

Momentum halted. Balloon popped. Gasket blown. 

Yet all it will take for the Lions (12-2) to hang onto the No. 1 seed, earn a first-round bye and seize home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs is another streak – as in winning their final three games. With that, the sky might still be Honolulu Blue. 

“I’m sure there will be a ton of stuff written about the sky falling,” Goff said after Detroit’s first loss since Week 2. “We had won how many in a row. It sucks to lose. We would have loved to win every game out, all the way through the Super Bowl. I hope we can look back on this one as a good learning lesson for us and move on.” 

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It would have been totally understandable if Goff went home and immediately packed his throwing arm in ice. The ninth-year pro threw a season-high 59 times. Against a Bills secondary without three injured starters, Goff also hit season highs for yards (494) and touchdown passes (5). 

But this came in a game when the Lions logged just 15 rushes and fell into an early hole because the Bills (11-3) started hot by scoring touchdowns on their first three drives. 

Did somebody mention a lesson?

Well, take your pick.

The last time the Lions lost, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Goff threw 55 times. So, no, that is not the desired formula. Yet Detroit’s 59-15 pass-run ratio against the Bills, which can be easily skewed when trying to rally from huge deficits, wasn’t the imbalance that should concern the Lions the most. 

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They passed because they had to. And they had to because the battered defense – which lost three more players on Sunday – was so overmatched. 

For weeks, Detroit’s defense has been so short-handed. Its best player, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, suffered a broken tibia and fibula in mid-October. Defensive end Marcus Davenport (triceps) and linebacker Alex Anzalone (broken arm) have missed much of the season, too.  

Yet with defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn creatively crafting schemes to cover for the setbacks – Detroit entered the matchup ranked third in blitz rate (32.2%), according to Pro Football Reference – the Lions kept on winning. 

Then came Sunday, when on top of being unable to contain Allen (the third quarterback in the past 30 years to pass for at least 250 yards with two rushing TDs in the first half), more losses were piled on with injuries. 

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Cornerback Khalil Dorsey suffered a gruesome leg injury that coach Dan Campbell said was similar to Hutchinson’s and ends his season. Campbell isn’t sure about the severity of the others, but he’s bracing himself. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill suffered a knee injury. Veteran cornerback Carlton Davis III has an injured jaw. 

“Know more tomorrow,” Campbell said. “I don’t feel good about either of those guys.” 

Still, as you’d expect from him, the coach isn’t hiding behind the injuries. 

“No excuses,” Campbell said, courageously. 

Sure, the NFL is a war of attrition. Every team in the league is dealing with injuries. Yet Detroit’s defense has had more than its share. 

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No, it’s not the first unit to be shredded by Allen, the MVP front-runner who spread the football around to nine targets in passing for 362 yards on Sunday and was never sacked. If he wasn’t converting on throws after rolling out of the pocket to extend plays, he was lethal with his legs. Again. Designed sweeps. Improvised scrambles. Misdirection power runs. 

Yet it wasn’t just Allen that the defense couldn’t contain as Buffalo rushed for 197 yards. James Cook (14 rushes, 105 yards) and Allen combined to average 6.9 yards per carry. It’s no wonder that Buffalo balanced its attack with 34 rushing attempts and 34 passes. 

In any event, the defense’s struggles illuminated the enormous pressure on Goff’s unit. After trailing by 21 points early in the third quarter, the Lions trimmed the deficit to 10 points and then to the final six-point margin. But that was more a reflection of grit and resilience than it was an indication that they would seize control of the game. 

And it underscored the reality of a challenge that will escalate when the competition stiffens in January. Balance wins in the playoffs. Complementary football matters. When the defense gets a stop, the offense converts it into points. Or so goes the idea. 

Defense wins championships? Well, until further notice Detroit, averaging an NFL-high 32.8 points per game, needs to be carried by an offense that makes the other teams play catch-up. The Lions have arguably the NFL’s best offensive line and a potent 1-2 running back duo with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Goff has receiving targets galore, led by Amon-Ra St. Brown, complemented by Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams and Tim Patrick.  

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And with all those weapons comes a formula with a tight script. Failing a litmus test against Buffalo wasn’t the worst outcome. Detroit still holds the No. 1 seed. Yet the key question was amplified, given the state of an injury-battered defense that can’t be counted on for stops. 

Of course, Campbell, known for his aggressive game management decisions, pointed to something else that had nothing to do with the defense being short-handed. He grumbled about the intensity. As pesky as the Lions were in the fourth quarter, they had to play catch-up for the entire game. Not easy with that defense. 

The coach blamed himself for not having his team playing with urgency from the start. It was the proverbial team punched in the mouth, dazed as it processed what hit it. 

The Bills won’t be the only team capable of inflicting such pain if the Lions, who advanced to an NFC title game meltdown last season, hope to beat the best competition and take it a couple of steps further this time around. 

Lesson? 

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“Maybe it’s a good wake-up call for us and a nice little recalibration for us,” Goff said. 

Either that or a reality check. The formula is a bit out of whack. 

“Now what are we going to do about it?” Campbell said. “We won’t sit there and feel sorry for ourselves.” 

After all, the sky isn’t falling. At least not yet. 



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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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agraham@detroitnews.com





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Detroit, MI

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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Detroit, MI

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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