Hundreds of football fans in downtown Detroit were wearing blue, and it wasn’t just the Lions’ Honolulu Blue. It was a royal blue. Buffalo Bills Blue.

They are the Bills Mafia, a cheeky, self-given name for Buffalo Bills fans. The Mafia came in droves to Detroit Sunday, anxiously awaiting a matchup between the Lions and Bills, two likely SuperBowl contenders. In parking lots all around Ford Field, hordes of Bills fans were bearing the cold, wet weather and enjoying the camaraderie of fandom, anticipating the showdown of high-speed offenses at Ford Field.

The Bills Mafia has become infamous for their pregame antics, which often go viral on social media. Among their many hijinks, the Bills Mafia is perhaps most known for jumping from high places onto foldable white tables — the Bills Mafia table slam.

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And at the corner of Gratiot Avenue and Brush Street, the Bills mafia congregated to do just that. At a large tailgate hosted by Fans of Buffalo — a group that advertises itself as the “premier Buffalo sports travel group” — white, plastic tables were getting crushed all day.

From a distance, it might have looked like an act of violence when Alex Cauley, a big, burly Buffalo fan in Bills-themed Zumbas overalls, threw Ryan Petras, a Lions fan, through a table from atop a concrete block. But they’re friends, they said, and were partying downtown and having a good time regardless of who might win.

Petras, 31, is from Troy. Cauley, also 31, is from Kansas City. The two met years ago while working together and linked up to tailgate before they game. They both plan to be groomsmen at each other’s weddings.

“He’s a good guy, even though he’s a Bills fan,” Petras said before getting thrown through the table.

Ceremoniously, Buffalo fans gathered around the table while Cauley led them in a chant before launching Petras (and himself) through the table, crashing to the ground and laughing — wincing with a little bit of pain, too.

“I’ll feel that tomorrow,” Petras said.

This season, the Bills mafia has brought a considerable presence to all of their away games. The goal is to make every game for the Bills feel like a home game, even if they are hundreds of miles away.

Kym Eiss, a Bills fan born in Buffalo, now living in Toledo, was out early for the tailgate in all of her Bills gear. Her reason for coming out?

“It’s the Mafia. What do you mean?” Eiss said. “I bleed red, white and blue, my whole family is from Buffalo.”

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Eiss said she has some respect for the Lions, saying that she expects this game to be a preview of this year’s Super Bowl. But, of course, her faith was behind Josh Allen and Buffalo’s high-powered offense.

“The Bills, Josh (Allen), they look good. There’s no other way to put it,” Eiss said.

On the same strip of tailgaters on Mechanic Street, DJ Myers, a 29-year-old Lions fan from Troy, said there were simply “too many” Bills fans in Detroit, but he wasn’t intimidated by their presence.

“(Lions) fans this year have been as good as ever and you’ve seen the blue wave from the Lions in Arizona and Green Bay,” Myers said. “Our noise is so important to the product we put out on the field.”

Myers has been to every Lions home game this season, and he traveled to Arizona in week three to see the Lions beat the Cardinals. Lions fans are just as dedicated as the Bills Mafia, Myers said.

“That’s why this is the most expensive ticket in the NFL this year,” Myers said. “It’s not by accident,”

Liam Rappleye covers breaking and trending news. He can be reached at LRappleye@freepress.com

Following Saturday’s Emirates NBA Cup semifinal matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s been made clear there’s a new dynamic duo in the NBA.

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard put together a masterclass two-man game late in the stretch to come up with a huge 110-102 win to compete for the title on Tuesday. This is great news for Bucks fans, especially after the rocky 2-8 start Milwaukee underwent at the beginning of the season.

Both players carried the Bucks to victory with Antetokounmpo finishing with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists against the Hawks, Lillard finished the game equally as important with 25 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.

There have now been a number of instances where both Lillard and Antetokounmpo both come up big late in the stretch, and it’s working for this team.

Following the Bucks win on Saturday, Lillard broke down the ins and outs of the offensive game plan between himself and backcourt mate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“They are one of the fastest teams in the league. A lot of times, teams that play at that pace offensively, they struggle to get back when the ball is going the other way. That is why we found success pushing the ball the other way,” Lillard said regarding the Hawks’ first-half pace. “As the game went on, it becomes a game where execution matters. You don’t want to be rushing through possessions. You want to make them defend to where it works in your favor.

“That is what we did. We went to that two-man game with me and Giannis on the clear side, so we had space, and there were no extra defenders there. We had Brook [Lopez] in the paint, so when they rotated to Giannis early, we had that high-low working.”

The Hawks struggled late in the fourth quarter to pick apart Lillard and Antetokounmpo’s two-man game. In fact, the final 16 points from Milwaukee resulted from some form of a pick-and-roll at the top of the key. Either Lillard and Antetokounmpo scored or took a trip to the free throw line, or they found an open Brook Lopez while the Hawks were out of position on defense. Textbook offense.

Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo says all around the team just looks and feels more comfortable right now. As the chemistry on the Bucks continues to develop, they could ideally continue climbing the ranks in the East.

More Bucks: Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Reveals Biggest Reason For Season Turnaround

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Roads may stay a little slick in some areas this Sunday morning, but as temperatures climb above the freezing mark and make it into the mid-30s, there will be a big improvement from yesterday.

Sunday forecast

Weather forecast: The fog and mist may linger through midday on Sunday for a large chunk of the state with a quiet and cloudy afternoon. 

A system will bring a chance of snow to northern Minnesota tomorrow with a few rain drops or flurries in the south. 

Winds will pick up throughout the day with a rather gusty forecast for western Minnesota on Monday. 

Looking ahead

What we know: The front that passes by on Monday will bring cooler temperatures for the rest of the week. 

The forecast shows a couple of chances of light snow this week. 

One on Tuesday for southern Minnesota and another chance of light snow arriving on Thursday for mainly the northern half of the state. 

Cooler temperatures arrive on Friday and into Saturday. 

Here’s a look at today’s highs and the seven-day forecast: