Sports
Detroit Lions’ Defensive Injuries Catching Up to Them at the Worst Time
The Detroit Lions had one hell of a path to get to 14-2.
They’re undefeated against the best division in the league. Sunday night’s regular-season finale with the Minnesota Vikings will decide the NFC North crown and the No. 1 seed in the conference. The Lions had to overcome more than their fair share of injuries throughout the journey.
But you could not have watched Detroit’s 40-34 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night and come away feeling good about the state of the Lions’ defense entering the playoffs.
It’s hard not to like these Lions. I’m a big, big fan of Dan Campbell; their offense is endlessly fun to watch, and it’s great to see a franchise that had no punch for the better part of the last 60 years get their turn in the limelight, contending for their elusive first Super Bowl.
Their weaknesses, however, are clear. I’m not laying any blame at the feet of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. He’s playing the players he’s got on a unit devastated by injuries.
The biggest name the Lions are missing on that side of the ball is elite pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, who broke his tibia and fibula in Week 6, but that’s just the start. Six starters from the Lions’ Week 1 defense are on injured reserve, important guys the average football fan might not know, like 2023 leading tackler Alex Anzalone.
Just two weeks ago, No. 1 corner Carlton Davis suffered a fractured jaw, and defensive lineman Alim McNeil (second in sacks behind Hutchinson) tore his ACL.
On paper, it may not seem like it’s mattered that much. The Lions entered Monday with the No. 7 scoring defense (19.9 ppg allowed) despite giving up the 14th-most yards per game (338.9), a true “bend but don’t break” setup.
But in seven games against playoff teams (counting the NFC South-leading Buccaneers, who could clinch in Week 18), the Lions gave up 26.4 points per game. And some of Detroit’s roughest showings have come this month as the ranks continued to thin: 31 points in a win over Green Bay, 48 in a loss to Buffalo, and 34 on Monday night at San Fran.
Not only did the 49ers’ first five drives result in four touchdowns and a missed field goal, but they only reached third down a grand total of four times. A Niners offense with Isaac Guerendo instead of Christian McCaffrey and Ricky Pearsall instead of Brandon Aiyuk was getting everything it wanted.
I give credit to Kerby Joseph, the lone bright spot in Detroit’s bottom-five pass defense, as he collected his eighth and ninth interceptions of the year in the second half. (To be fair, Brock Purdy uncorked a terrible overthrow on the first one and completely telestrated the second.) But both of them came after teammate Brian Branch committed boneheaded penalties to help the opponent’s drives along.
Glenn gave a quote the other week that I can truly appreciate. It was right after the Lions lost Davis and McNeil, and it was clear he’d heard enough about his team’s bad injury luck.
“We’re going to the playoffs. We’re in the tournament. Why in the hell is the sky falling for us?” Glenn said. “What do we have to sit back and be sad? We let you guys do that.”
It’s far preferable to the unseemly “woe is me” tack from a coach. His job isn’t to worry but to work with what he’s got.
But if I’m a Lions fan right now and I’m thinking about what Minnesota, Green Bay, Philadelphia or Washington could do to my defense in the playoffs… the sky might not be falling, but I’d be lining up to donate my leg and my jaw to the guys in Honolulu blue who really need it.
Sports
Balanced scoring effort gets Arizona State past Utah
Feb 28, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Santiago Trouet (1) controls the ball against Utah Utes forward Keanu Dawes (8) in the first half at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Maurice Odum scored 15 points as Arizona State completed a season sweep over Utah with a 73-60 victory at Tempe Ariz.
Massamba Diop scored 14 points for the Sun Devils (15-14, 6-10 Big 12) and Anthony Johnson added 13. Santiago Trouet delivered his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona State.
Keanu Dawes had 16 points for Utah (10-19, 2-14), alongside 14 from Don McHenry. The Utes’ Terrence Brown failed to score in double digits for just the third time this season, shooting an uncharacteristic 4 of 12 from the field. Brown missed his one attempt from 3-point range.
The Sun Devils shot 52.9% (9 of 17) from 3-pont range, the team’s second-best performance of the season. Arizona State had just five turnovers, while Utah’s eight turnovers were its lowest in eight games this month.
Dawes tallied seven points in the first five minutes of the game, highlighted by a poster dunk over the 6-foot-11 Diop. It started a 7-0 run that gave the Utes an early 14-5 advantage.
Brown nailed a routine jumper to give Utah a 21-18 lead with 9:19 remaining in the half before the Utes went on a scoring drought of over seven minutes.
Arizona State capitalized with a 13-0 run for a 31-21 lead with 3:13 remaining in the first half. Don McHenry ended Utah’s drought with a 3-pointer and Odum answered with a 3-pointer of his own as the Sun Devils led 34-32 at halftime.
Odum finished the first half with 13 points and went 3 of 3 from 3-point range.
Trouet made a pair of free throws to give the Sun Devils a 43-30 lead with 16:19 remaining before the Utes went on a 9-0 run to pull within 43-39 with 13:33 remaining.
Johnson responded with a 3-pointer, quickly followed by a steal at half court to set up a Bryce Ford 3-pointer that once again extended Arizona State’s lead to double digits at 49-39 with 12:47 left.
A 7-0 run brought Utah within 57-51 with 7:54 remaining before Arizona State delivered a 9-0 run to take control at 68-53 with 3:52 left. The Sun Devils closed the run on a Diop dunk.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Feb 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) reaches for the puck against the Boston Bruins in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers scored back-to-back goals to start the third period and held on to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale both scored and assisted on each other’s goals for Philadelphia, which has won two of its three games since the Olympic break. Drysdale tallied the eventual game-winner with 8:05 left.
Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining, Christian Dvorak recorded two assists, and Dan Vladar was excellent with a 26-save performance to help the Flyers win.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games with a third-period goal that cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.
Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston, which entered on an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).
With the game scoreless through two periods, the Bruins looked to take a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the third as Hampus Lindholm’s point shot beat Vladar, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.
Instead, Konecny scored first at 3:41. After Dvorak’s shot into the zone hit a stanchion behind the net, he recovered the bounce and made a tight backhand feed to his oncoming linemate to bury into an open side of the net.
Drysdale doubled Philadelphia’s lead at 11:55 by slipping down the slot on a Konecny pass and firing an open wrist shot past Swayman’s blocker.
The Bruins found an answer from McAvoy 1:08 later. Pavel Zacha won the faceoff right to Hampus Lindholm, who found his fellow defenseman cutting to the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Swayman followed up that goal by stopping Konecny on a breakaway with 5:36 left, but Boston could not find an equalizer.
Philadelphia had a 7-6 shot advantage in a scoreless first. Swayman made one of his best early saves halfway through as Trevor Zegras fired a turnaround shot from the slot.
Vladar made two close-range stops on Morgan Geekie within the first eight minutes of the second period, including one early in Boston’s second power play. The first stop occurred when David Pastrnak set up Geekie for a one-timer in the slot at the 5:00 mark.
Less than a minute after Vladar’s second stop on Geekie, Swayman returned to the highlight reel at the other end of the ice. Konecny’s wraparound put the puck on goal before Swayman robbed Dvorak with the glove on a rebound effort coming to the doorstep.
After Boston’s first man advantage came up empty, Vladar made another big save as Sean Kuraly separated from the Flyers’ defense for a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Balanced scoring effort gets Arizona State past Utah
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
