Detroit News

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News In football, there are three key components to any good defense: You need to be able to stop the run, rush the passer and cover. The Detroit Lions aren’t doing any of those well, and it’s a big reason the team has one win through four games.  Despite the league becoming

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News Prior to his season-ending injury a year ago, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was arguably playing the best football of his career. But through the first four games of the 2020 season, he’s struggled to recapture that form.  Stafford’s completion percentage, yards and yards per attempt are closer to

Rod Beard   | The Detroit News With more positive COVID tests, the NFL has had to do some juggling of the schedule to keep things balanced and in order. The Tennessee Titans have been the most notable case of a team with an outbreak, in addition to the New England Patriots, who had quarterback Cam

Rod Beard   | The Detroit News In their first four games, the Lions’ offense has sputtered somewhat, with just 407 total rushing yards (101.8 yards per game) and 929 passing yards (232.3), ranking in the bottom half of the league in both categories. Although they have an upgraded group of running backs with Kerryon Johnson,

By Mike Sielski  |  Philadelphia Inquirer In the age of COVID/Zoom sports reporting, you have to accept what an NFL team offers you after a game. There’s no wave of media flooding the locker room, no waiting out a player until he finishes showering and tying his shoes, no following a guy out of the

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News Following Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Atlanta Falcons fired coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff. It marked the second time during the early stages of the 2020 season that a franchise has cleaned house, following the Houston Texans’ decision to relieve coach/general manager Bill

Kristie Rieken  |  Associated Press Houston — Costly errors and an inability to take advantage of Houston’s mistakes gave the Jacksonville Jaguars another loss to a previously winless team on Sunday and left them in last place in the AFC South. Deshaun Watson threw for a season-high 359 yards and three touchdowns and the Texans got their

Will Graves  |  Associated Press Pittsburgh — Eric Ebron never stops talking. Ever. In the huddle. In the locker room. On the field. On social media. The Pittsburgh Steelers tight end’s inner monologue is broadcast live for all the world to hear, a non-stop barrage of one-liners and verbal mic drops that targets everyone from

By Jerry Green  |  Special to The Detroit News Detroit — The coach was trudging up the slope in the corridor outside the Lions’ locker room past a cluster of critical, curious sports journalists. Suddenly he stopped. “What does it take for a coach to get fired around here?” he whispered into the right ear of

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Tony Paul   | The Detroit News A Detroit man has been charged with operating a chop shop where former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson’s stolen car recently ended up. Darnell Smith, 31, was arrested Tuesday and arraigned in 36th District Court on Thursday, charged with operating a chop shop and receiving and concealing stolen

The Detroit News  |  The Detroit News Justin Rogers, Rod Beard, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News offer their predictions against the spread for Week 5 of the 2020 NFL season. Tampa Bay -5.5 at Chicago Rogers: Tampa Bay Beard: Tampa Bay Niyo: Tampa Bay Wojnowski: Tampa Bay Carolina +3.5 at Atlanta

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News In recent years, the best NFL offenses have converted third downs at a clip between 45-49%. Currently, with offensive production up across the league, six teams have been successful a shade better than 50% of the time through four games, led by the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs at 53.9%. On Sunday, the

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News The dictionary defines consistency as marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity; free from variation or contradiction. If you rolled your eyes at that journalistic cliché, it was necessary to convey what it’s like listening to the Detroit Lions players and coach Matt Patricia daily attempting to identify what’s wrong with a

Teresa M. Walker and Barry Wilner  |  Associated Press NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is warning the league’s 32 teams of penalties including potential forfeits of games for violations of COVID-19 protocols that force changes in the schedule. In a memo sent to the teams Monday after a conference call involving NFL and club executives, Goodell

Justin Rogers   | The Detroit News Here are four observations after having a night to ponder the Detroit Lions’ 35-29 loss to the New Orleans Saints. First Down Lions coach Matt Patricia is getting crushed, locally and nationally, for his postgame comments. While answering why he still believes he’s still the guy to get the

John Niyo   | The Detroit News The Lions have rarely, if ever, been trendsetters. But as what is shaping up to be another losing season reaches the quarter-pole here in Detroit, they’ve fallen behind the rest of the league in a way that’s both alarming and, at times, inexplicable. Points are no longer at a

Nolan Bianchi  |  Special to The Detroit News It’s always special when a player gets to make his debut in the starting lineup of an NFL game. But for New Orleans Saints rookie offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz, Sunday’s start at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions added just a little bit more sentiment: It came

John Niyo   | The Detroit News The Lions have rarely, if ever, been trendsetters. But as what is shaping up to be another losing season reaches the quarter-pole here in Detroit, they’ve fallen behind the rest of the league in a way that’s both alarming and, at times, inexplicable. Points are no longer at a

Bob Wojnowski   | The Detroit News Detroit — Nothing ever gets fixed, or stays fixed. The only thing Matt Patricia’s defense can fix these days is the other team’s struggling quarterback. It’s gotten so bad that when the Lions grabbed a quick 14-0 lead over the Saints Sunday, no one in the Ford Field stands