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NFC North Roundtable: Biggest Remaining Question for Lions

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NFC North Roundtable: Biggest Remaining Question for Lions


The ninth in a collection of articles from NFC North FanNation group reporters explores the most important remaining query for every NFC North squad in 2022. 

Bears 

Can the Bears preserve Justin Fields upright?

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If a veteran line allowed 58 sacks final yr, what number of instances can Justin Fields anticipate to be thrown to the bottom this yr?

The Bears enter coaching camp with three tackles for 2 spots which have began 10 complete NFL video games. As an illustration, former middle Sam Mustipher hasn’t performed at proper guard in his life aside from throughout OTAs and minicamp. 

This offensive line is an “Abbott and Costello” routine for soccer: Who’s at deal with, who’s at guard? 

Might rookie Braxton Jones begin at left deal with? Will the Bears transfer Mustipher again to middle and begin middle Lucas Patrick at proper guard, one of many positions he performed with Inexperienced Bay? 

Larry Borom began eight video games at proper deal with final yr, however lined up at left deal with by means of the offseason, till Jones performed left deal with to shut OTAs and minicamp.

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And, Teven Jenkins was purported to be a starter, because the Bears’ second-round choose final yr, however he might be on the bench if Jones and Borom man the deal with positions. Then once more, they might additionally transfer Jenkins to protect. They did have Dakota Dozier enjoying guard, however he suffered a knee damage at minicamp and is on IR.

A beginning offensive line must be established as quickly as doable to allow them to construct a cohesive unit. The Bears have 4 undetermined positions. 

Subsequently, Fields’ mobility guarantees to be examined.

Lions 

Can the defensive position drastically enhance?

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The Detroit Lions’ defensive position has struggled mightily over the previous couple of seasons pressuring the quarterback. Merely put, opposing offenses have had their manner with Detroit’s protection for a lot too lengthy. 

Detroit’s sack totals and stress charges have been nothing to write down dwelling about, as Detroit’s protection has ranked within the the underside tier of the league in plenty of classes.

Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and the entrance workplace have made a concerted effort to revamp the defensive position, drafting younger gamers which possess a powerful motor and are optimistic suits within the locker room.

Charles Harris had a profession season in 2021, and can be trying to construct off the success he skilled his first season in Motown.

How briskly rookies Aidan Hutchinson and Josh Paschal adapt to life within the NFL will go a great distance in figuring out how profitable the defensive position could be.

The teaching employees is relying on veteran Romeo Okwara coming back from a severe damage, together with the event of second-year gamers Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill.

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If the change to extra of a 4-3 base look can produce extra stress, the secondary can even profit and take steps ahead, because the roster continues to be fairly younger on protection. The most important query mark nonetheless revolves round who will step up alongside the defensive position and rack up sacks. 

Packers 

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Who’s going to get open?

Aaron Rodgers is coming off back-to-back MVP seasons, thanks partially to All-Professional receiver Davante Adams. Over the past six seasons, no receiver within the NFL has caught extra passes, piled up extra yards or scored extra touchdowns than Adams. Together with his expertise and unimaginable reference to Rodgers, the duo was unstoppable.

The issue is the Packers didn’t add any important belongings to their receiver corps till it was too late. 

In 5 drafts from 2016-20, the Packers drafted six receivers. The earliest was J’Mon Moore, with a compensatory choose on the finish of the fourth spherical. None of these six are even on the roster right now.

With the offseason commerce of Adams, the Packers signed veteran Sammy Watkins, whose lone 1,000-yard season got here again in 2015, and drafted Christian Watson within the second spherical, Romeo Doubs within the fourth spherical and Samori Toure within the seventh spherical. 

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These 4, together with veterans Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb and 2021 third-round slot receiver Amari Rodgers, will battle for his or her place on the depth chart in coaching camp.

Finally, all the season will boil right down to this query: Who will get open? 

Rodgers is a good quarterback, and Matt LaFleur has a fantastic scheme. However, at some pivotal second, in a massively vital sport, any person goes to need to win their route and make a play. 

Will that be Lazard? Watkins? One of many rookies? Or will GM Brian Gutekunst need to buy groceries?

Vikings 

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Will the offensive line and secondary be adequate?

I am making this a two-part reply as a result of, effectively, why not? As presently constructed, the Vikings have one key space on all sides of the ball that is a relative unknown heading into the season.

As is the case seemingly yearly, the offensive line is a possible weak point that might maintain again an in any other case gifted assault. 

The Vikings have a stable veteran quarterback, elite weapons on the ability positions and a younger, offensive-minded head coach who seems to have a shiny future. To ensure that all of these individuals to thrive, the road wants to supply enough go safety and powerful run-blocking. 

Minnesota’s deal with state of affairs is definitely fairly promising, with younger constructing blocks Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill. However, it is the inside trio that is still a priority, significantly middle Garrett Bradbury.

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Defensively, the entrance seven seems stout. However, this can be a passing-driven league, so the Vikings’ secondary would possibly make or break the group’s defensive efficiency as a complete. It is a unit counting on two of the oldest gamers on the roster — doable Corridor of Famers Harrison Smith and Patrick Peterson — to play at a excessive degree. 

Along with these two, the Vikings can be relying on three of the youngest gamers on the roster, together with two rookies, to supply high quality play. That combination of post-and pre-prime expertise may work effectively, or it might be a little bit of a multitude.



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Detroit, MI

President Joe Biden speaks to Detroit NAACP dinner: How to watch

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President Joe Biden speaks to Detroit NAACP dinner: How to watch


President Joe Biden is getting set to speak Sunday evening at the Detroit Branch NAACP’s annual Fight for Freedom Fund dinner at Huntington Place in his first visit to the city this campaign season.

Because it’s being considered a campaign event, the White House website won’t be carrying the event live, but there are a couple of places you can watch it, including here on freep.com, courtesy of a link from C-SPAN.

You can also watch it online at cspan.org and WYXZ Channel 7 will be carrying it live on its website, wxyz.com.

The speech to the annual dinner comes at a crucial time in Biden’s campaign for reelection with several swing state polls showing him trailing former President Donald Trump in a rematch of the 2020 election. Michigan is expected to help determine which man gets reelected in November.

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Meanwhile, Biden is trying to shore up support among Black voters, who are vital to his reelection hopes. Earlier Sunday, Biden delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta, a historically all-male Black institution, before traveling to Michigan.

Come back to freep.com for more coverage of Biden’s visit to Detroit.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler



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Detroit, MI

Megan Thee Stallion brings swagger and spice to LCA in first Detroit headlining show

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Megan Thee Stallion brings swagger and spice to LCA in first Detroit headlining show


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She may be just three shows into her first-ever headlining tour, but Megan Thee Stallion looked all the part of a seasoned star onstage Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.

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Five years after breaking big with “Hot Girl Summer,” the Grammy-winning rapper has embarked on a transatlantic arena tour of that same name, with Detroit an early stop on the run.

A sellout crowd was there to greet the 29-year-old Houston hitmaker for what was a girls-night-out kind of affair, with many fans arriving at LCA in their own variations of the curvaceous body suits and flesh-baring monokinis Megan Thee Stallion would embrace onstage.

It was a night writhing with snake imagery, sexual bravado and near-nonstop booty shaking. The show was as much about Megan’s confident, assertive presence as it was her ever-growing repertoire of kinky hits — a salvo that started Saturday with her latest chart-topper, “Hiss,” and its barrage of cleverly barbed celebrity shade.

Joined by eight dancers who at one point joined the star for a synchronized twerking number, Megan Thee Stallion kept the pace upbeat and the downtime minimal. The only extended pause for breath came with a mid-show segment in which she invited groups of excited fans — her Hotties — onto the stage for their own personalized dancing exhibitions.

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Amid the extravagant raunchiness that often bordered on camp, that was a touch of come-one, come-all togetherness and accessibility, much like the assorted selfies she snapped on audience members’ mobile phones throughout the night.

As a rapper, Megan Thee Stallion is formidable — she built a name via her electrifying freestyles, after all — and her rapid-fire rhymes accentuated songs such as “Sex Talk,” “Kitty Kat” and “Stalli.” Elsewhere, numbers like “Thot S—” rode high on catchy hooks, with the likes of “Big Ole Freak” becoming arena-wide chant-alongs and “BOA” serving up her distinctive brand of side-eye.

After reported technical glitches on the tour’s opening nights, Saturday’s mix was crisp and full, and the star’s mouth-twisting vowels and spicy wordplay were only occasionally lost in the sonic boom.

Megan Thee Stallion’s trademark, defiant swagger did give way to a little vulnerability with the recent single exploring her battles with depression, “Cobra,” which wrapped up the concert’s opening segment.

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“Wanna Be,” with guest Glorilla, and the 2020 Cardi B smash “WAP” helped the show start a crescendo that finished with the biggest hit of Megan’s career, the Beyoncé-featuring “Savage.”

For all the night’s energy — and props to the likable Megan, that rarely flagged — the show threatened to become a monotonous affair, offering few variations in sound, movement or expression. At a crisp 85 minutes, it clocked out probably exactly when it needed to.

Rising rapper Glorilla had kicked off the evening with a 45-minute set of Memphis-fueled hip-hop and her own brand of self-empowerment.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.

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Detroit, MI

Motown Museum to host annual Founder’s Day celebration on May 19

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Motown Museum to host annual Founder’s Day celebration on May 19


DETROIT, MICH (WXYZ) — The Motown Museum is welcoming the community to its annual Founder’s Day celebration from 12-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 19, 2024.

Community vendors, performances from Hitsville NEXT program participants and appearances by special guests will be highlights of Founder’s Day, which is a Motown Museum tradition. Entertainment on the museum’s immersive Rocket Plaza will culminate the day of celebration and give the local Detroit community the opportunity to experience the Motown magic together.

Founder’s Day is an annual, free and open to the public celebration hosted by Motown Museum in honor of Esther Gordy Edwards, Motown Museum’s late founder who made commemorating the Motown legacy in Detroit a reality for the world. The event will kick off the 2024 summer performance series on Rocket Plaza, which will be packed with captivating concerts and unique community gathering events that will make Rocket Plaza and Motown Museum the place to be for live music and outdoor entertainment in Detroit.

Two-for-one Motown Museum tours will also be available on Founder’s Day. Interested participants should plan to purchase Motown Museum tours through the box office on the day of the event. Motown Museum Campus Rocket Plaza (in front of Hitsville U.S.A.) is located at 2648 W. Grand Blvd., in Detroit, MI (48208).

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For more information on Motown Museum, visit http://www.motownmuseum.org





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