Detroit, MI

To beat 49ers, Detroit Lions say their ‘top guys have to out-will their top guys’

Published

1 year ago

December 27, 2024

To beat 49ers, Detroit Lions say their ‘top guys have to out-will their top guys’

Brock Purdy completed less than half his passes in the first half of last year’s NFC championship game. Christian McCaffrey averaged 2.9 yards per carry. George Kittle didn’t have a catch.

All three players, though, made big plays in the second half as the San Francisco 49ers rallied from 17 points down to beat the Detroit Lions and advance to the Super Bowl, and while McCaffrey won’t play in Monday’s rematch, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said his unit’s best players will have to “out-will” the 49ers’ stars to win Monday night rematch at Levi’s Stadium.

“If you look at the game from last year, I thought our guys did a really good job early and then some of their guys started to will themselves into making some plays and that’s what we have to really do this game,” Glenn said Friday. “Our top guys have to out-will their top guys, and I’m looking forward to seeing our guys do that.”

The 49ers have played most of the season without three of their best offensive players, due to injury: McCaffrey, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams.

At 6-9, they’re one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL.

But they still rank among the top 11 in passing, rushing and total yards, and Glenn said they remain dangerous because of the “prideful players” they still have.

“Like Kittle,” Glenn said. “He is a weapon and when you watch him on tape he looks even faster than he’s been in his years. Man, he’s going up and getting the ball, he’s blocking. They’re getting the ball to him at the point of attack. To me, he’s the best tight end in the game and that’s just who he is.

“Then Deebo (Samuel), man, you watch him last week, he was a man on a mission against the Dolphins. As many times they were getting him the ball in space and as many tackles as he was breaking, so he’s the Deebo of old that we’ve always seen. And then this quarterback, man, he’s a guy that can just — he’s surgical with the way that he operates. So this is going to be a challenge for us, it really is. But I tell you what, our defense is looking forward to this challenge.”

Teddy the talker

The Lions signed Teddy Bridgewater on Thursday as insurance at quarterback in case something happens to Jared Goff, but Glenn said the team’s defense will benefit from practicing against the veteran backup, too.

“Teddy is one of the most vocal noise talkers that you’ll ever have as a quarterback,” Glenn said. “And I’m excited about that, I really am. Because it really brings a value to your defense as far as pissing your defensive guys off, especially when he’s out there throwing the ball around. It was the same thing in New Orleans. He brought that mentality here.”

Glenn was defensive backs coach with the New Orleans Saints during Bridgewater’s two seasons with the team in 2018-19, and watched the Lions defense go toe-to-toe with Bridgewater every week last year.

He called Bridgewater “one of the best leaders I’ve ever seen.”

“Everybody loves him. Everybody,” Glenn said. “And there’s something to that, to where you’re not starting but guys can look at you as a leader of a team. And you don’t get many guys like that, ’cause it’s usually your play is what some people look at as far as leadership. But man, just the way that he carries himself, just the way that he can talk to everybody on the team from O-line, D-line, linebackers, DBs, running backs, it doesn’t matter. He has a relationship with everybody on this team and that’s a special person.”

Right call

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said officials were right to flag long snapper Hogan Hatten for a false-start penalty on the play before Jake Bates’ 65-yard field-goal try fell short and to the right just before halftime of last week’s win over the Chicago Bears.

The Lions lined up for a 60-yard kick with 1 second left in the first half, but the penalty pushed Bates’ try back 5 yards.

“Really what happened was we got in our stance so early and Jake hadn’t even approached the ball yet or started his walk off, so we were down there forever,” Fipp said. “So then Hogan was standing up higher than normal and then as he went to get down and really get set, which it looked like we were already set, he lowered his hips to sink down and get ready to snap the ball and they moved and so then it was on us, which was the right call.”

Bates made field goals of 30 and 34 yards against the Bears and is 23-for-26 on the season. All three of his misses have come in the Lions’ past four games, and two of them are from 50-plus yards.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Fipp said of Bates’ long miss against the Bears. “I don’t know if it bothers him or not. You’d have to ask him. But to me, I mean if you’re a kicker, you want a chance to swing at the long ones, really. I’m hoping he gets a chance to swing at one of those things indoors from far back there because I know what he’s got.”

Christian values

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said he was pleased with how rookie guard Christian Mahogany played in his first career start against the Bears.

“He did a great job,” Johnson said. “He did. We know he’s got an excellent first step. He beats his opponent off the ball and then what showed up is what you saw at Boston College, which is the cleaning of the pocket and playing with a little nasty to him, which we certainly embrace. (Offensive line coach) Hank Fraley likes to think it reminds him of himself. I don’t know about that necessarily, but Christian, I think, showed a glimpse of what a bright future he has.”

Mahogany, who missed the start of the season with mononucleosis, played all 65 snaps at left guard against the Bears. Johnson said he was especially impressed with how Mahogany blocked in the screen game.

“That’s been something that’s taken us a little while, I feel like almost over the last second half of the season here we’ve really caught onto our screen landmarks and trusting those with the back, the receivers, the O-line,” he said. “And to see a guy that missed training camp show up and in his first start be as in tune and detailed as the rest of the group, I thought that was extremely encouraging.”

Lions coach Dan Campbell said Graham Glasgow will return to the starting lineup this week against the 49ers

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers defeated by St. Louis Cardinals 5-3

Published

4 hours ago

April 6, 2026

Press Room

Detroit Tigers defeated by St. Louis Cardinals 5-3

The Detroit Tigers were beaten 5-3 by the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park on Sunday night. Iván Herrera’s two-run single capped a four-run fifth inning for the Cards in the finale of a three-game series.

Iván Herrera’s two-run single capped a four-run fifth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday night.

Nolan Gorman, Victor Scott II and Pedro Pagés each scored a run and knocked in another for the Cardinals.

St. Louis starter Kyle Leahy (1-1) gave up two runs and five hits in five innings. Riley O’Brien pitched the ninth for his second save.

Kerry Carpenter led the Detroit offense with his second homer in two days. Tigers starter Keider Montero (0-1) gave up three runs — two earned — and three hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Montero was recalled from Triple-A Toledo on Saturday after Justin Verlander was placed on the 15-day injured list due to left hip inflammation. Verlander had been scheduled Sunday to make his first start at Detroit’s ballpark in a Tigers uniform since the 2017 season.

Colt Keith led off the Detroit third with a single. Leahy retired the next two batters before Carpenter launched a 425-foot drive to straightaway center field to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals scored their first two runs in the fifth on Pages’ RBI single and Scott’s squeeze bunt. Herrera smacked his two-out, two-run single off Enmanuel De Jesus.

Javier Báez’s sacrifice fly in the sixth cut the Cardinals’ lead to 4-3. Gorman’s sacrifice fly in the eighth made it 5-3.

Up next

Cardinals: RHP Andre Pallante (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener of a three-game series Monday night at Washington.

Tigers: RHP Casey Mize (0-1, 1.50) pitches the opener of a four-game series Monday night at Minnesota.

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Detroit, MI

Strong storms leave trail of damage across Metro Detroit — cleanup could take weeks

Published

16 hours ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

Strong storms leave trail of damage across Metro Detroit — cleanup could take weeks

MONROE COUNTY, Mich. – Strong storms swept through parts of Metro Detroit Saturday evening, downing trees, toppling power lines and damaging property across Monroe and Wayne counties.

Matt Rose, owner of Rose Tree Service in Monroe County, and his crew hit the ground running to help with the recovery effort.

“Probably about 5:30 in the afternoon the wind started picking up and all you heard was tornado sirens,” Rose said.

The storms didn’t last long — but the damage they left behind tells a different story.

“Within 20 minutes I’d say. It did a lot of damage in 20 minutes,” Rose said.

The storms left behind splintered trees, downed wires and ripped at least one barn to shreds.

Rob Salenbien of Van Buren Township watched the storm destroy what he described as his family’s entertainment space — right before a major family milestone.

“It’s our entertainment place,” Salenbien said. “We were just hosting my family, my mom and dad is inside – their 60th wedding anniversary is coming up on April 30th, we were going to have a party here on May 3rd.”

Salenbien and his family say they are thankful no one was hurt.

As for the cleanup, Rose says crews are still working to finish up damage left by a previous storm — and now they have even more on their hands. He estimates the cleanup from this latest round of storms could take weeks.

“We were still finishing up the last storm of trees broken on houses and stuff like that,” Rose said.

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Detroit, MI

Mitch Albom: Detroit Opening Day tradition embraces the local perfectly

Published

1 day ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

Mitch Albom: Detroit Opening Day tradition embraces the local perfectly

To many people, it makes no sense. Here was the seventh game of a 162-game baseball season, the Detroit Tigers had lost four of the six already played, yet seemingly the entire city converged on downtown Friday, April 3, to get into the stadium, or sit outside the stadium, or just hang around the stadium.

They stuffed bars and restaurants. They drank beer despite the early hour. They wore orange or blue clothing and caps with an Old English “D.” There is no way to count how many total people swarmed the streets, or how many of them had called in sick to their jobs to be here.

We call it Opening Day, and in Detroit it is virtually a holiday. Not elsewhere. Other cities don’t make this fuss. To many of them, going wild for the seventh game of the season makes no sense.

And that’s OK.

In fact, it’s perfect.

Far from the only nonstandard tradition

Opening Day made me think about how many things we do around these parts that are uniquely ours, traditions that we cherish but which don’t necessarily travel.

The Dream Cruise. It began as a charity event, and is now is a fixture on the August calendar. But if you tell someone in Boston or San Diego that thousands of people sit in lawn chairs along a busy boulevard to watch old cars drive past, you’ll get laughed out of the room.

The Independence Day Fireworks. Yes, other cities have them. No, they don’t have them in late June. We do. Supposedly we do this because of our proximity to Canada, which celebrates on a different schedule. Of course, Canada Day is July 1, and America’s holiday is July 4, so someone should explain how June got in there.

But, hey, maybe they shouldn’t. It’s our tradition. And that’s what’s important.

Sweetest Day. Hate to break this to area lovers, but that’s not really a thing in the most of the country.

Paczki Day – yes, it’s a way to celebrate Fat Tuesday, but it’s much bigger here in the Midwest than in other regions.

The Charity Preview at the Detroit Auto Show. That’s like the Motor City’s Met Gala, but it doesn’t exist elsewhere. And auto shows in general are not the must-see events they are in our town.

Traditions like throwing octopi at hockey games, singing “born and raised in South Detroit!” chanting “Onward Down the Field” when the Lions score or yelling “DEEE-TROIT BAS-KET-BALLLLLL!” are things you will not witness anywhere else.

And it may be a hot dog everywhere else, but it’s a coney here.

If all of this makes us quirky, well, quirky we should be. Because in a world of increasing homogenization, local traditions are in peril.

A taste for tradition

Consider what the internet and multinational corporations desire. Everyone on the same page at the same time.

Apple wants the whole world to line up at a given hour for the new iPhone. Taylor Swift wants the whole world hanging on her latest release. Local coffee shops get swallowed by chains. Local eateries surrender to fast food.

As someone who travels for work, I can tell you, decades ago when you went to the South, you heard different music on the radio. You went out West, you saw different retail outlets. You felt like an outsider. You felt like you were someplace new and wondrous.

Today, Nashville looks like Austin looks like Raleigh looks like Phoenix. There’s your P.F. Chang’s next to your Cheesecake Factory. There’s your Best Buy alongside your Costco. The goal of global economies is scale, big numbers, national – even international – audiences. Everyone wants to be the Super Bowl.

But what of the joy of regional customs? Local traditions? The food you can only get here, the music you can only hear there. As the internet shrinks our distance, it also fades our individuality.

When I was a kid in Philadelphia, they had a parade every New Year’s Day, where string bands marched and people wore these crazy costumes, painted their faces, and competed in different categories. It was called the Mummers Parade, and in my youthful naivete, I thought every city did this. Later I realized it was unique to Philly, and in fact, many outsiders found it silly.

Well, as Paul McCartney sang, it isn’t silly at all. Local color shades who we are. Local activities give us a sense of identity. Local traditions bind us to our hometowns, and our shared memories with neighbors.

So we can ask “Did you go to Opening Day?” around here and people know what we mean. There’s something precious about that. In an age of everyone buying from Amazon and eating at McDonald’s, we should fiercely protect what makes us unique.

So yeah, wearing a “Trammell” jersey or telling your friends, “I’ll meet you at Mario’s before the game for the lobster buffet” may make no sense to outsiders. Good. It’s not supposed to.

Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates on his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow @mitchalbom on x.com.

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