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
No. 16 Texas Tech hands No. 4 Iowa State first home loss
Feb 28, 2026; Ames, Iowa, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders forward Donovan Atwell (12) celebrates during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images Every time Iowa State began to gain any semblance of second-half momentum Saturday, Texas Tech had an answer.
Whether it was a 3-pointer on one end, a block on the other or just stingy work on the defensive backboards, the Red Raiders simply refused to buckle to what has been dubbed Hilton Magic.
The result was another significant victory against a foe ranked No. 6 or higher this season, 82-73, which also marked the Cyclones’ first home loss of the season.
Donovan Atwell scored 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, Luke Bamgboye delivered his best game since stepping in as a starter for the injured J.T. Toppin with 13 points and Christian Anderson navigated second-half foul trouble to score 12 points and dish out seven assists as No. 16 Texas Tech (22-7, 12-4 Big 12) moved into a tie for second place in the conference with Houston.
The Red Raiders are 3-0 since losing Toppin, the 2025 Big 12 Player of the Year, to a season-ending knee injury.
No. 4 Iowa State (24-5, 11-5) got 22 points from Joshua Jefferson and 20 from Milan Momcilovic, but couldn’t quite dig out of a hole that grew as deep as 45-25 late in the first half.
The Cyclones crept back within 65-59 with 7:08 to play on Tamin Lipsey’s dribble-drive bucket and the capacity home crowd was at a full-throat roar.
That rally came after Iowa State was unable to chip away at a 16-point deficit despite Anderson getting tagged with his fourth foul right before the first media timeout of the second half and heading to the bench for nearly 6 minutes.
Jaylen Petty and Tyeree Bryan stepped up with Anderson sidelined, sharing the lead guard responsibilities and scoring a combined 17 points in the second half.
More importantly, Petty helped Texas Tech regain its footing after the Cyclones made their run. He pulled up for a timely 3-pointer and moments later hit a mid-range jump shot late in the shot clock. Both buckets came after Bamgboye blocked shots at the rim.
Atwell sank his final 3 with 4:47 remaining, and Bryan finished a 10-0 run with a driving layup to push the lead to 75-59, leaving Iowa State unable to recover.
Atwell’s big day from beyond the arc helped the Red Raiders finish 14 of 29 from deep against one of the Big 12’s best defenses.
Conversely, the Cyclones struggled to make shots from anywhere most of the game and finished at 39% overall (23 of 59), including 8 of 24 from 3-point territory. Jefferson and Momcilovic combined to connect on 13 of 28 field-goal attempts.
Iowa State clawed back into the game by cranking up its defense, especially on Anderson, in the second half. The Cyclones forced 10 turnovers in the second half, which led to 12 points the other way. Iowa State scored 17 points off turnovers in all.
Sparked by Atwell’s 15 points, Texas Tech held a comfortable 45-29 lead at halftime. The Red Raiders made five of their final eight 3-pointers after a 3 of 10 start and knocked down 10 of 11 shots from inside the arc with 11 assists on 18 made field goals.
Jefferson and Momcilovic each notched 13 points to help the Cyclones outscore Texas Tech 44-37 in the second half, but the Red Raiders had enough in the tank to hold on for another huge NCAA Tournament resume-boosting triumph.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sharks beat Oilers to halt five-game slide
Feb 28, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Edmonton Oilers left wing Zach Hyman (18) scores a goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images Shakir Mukhamadullin scored the game-winner on a slap shot midway through the third period as the San Jose Sharks defeated the visiting Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Saturday.
Michael Misa had a goal and an assist, and 12 different players recorded points for the Sharks, who ended a five-game losing streak, their second longest of the season.
Connor McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, led Edmonton with three assists, while Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists.
Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring 8:34 into the first period for San Jose. Oilers goaltender Connor Ingam, who made 28 saves, lost his stick on the previous sequence. He thought the puck had been cleared far enough away from his zone to retrieve it, but the Sharks’ Will Smith retrieved it and sent it over to Celebrini for his team-leading 29th of the season.
Misa and Barclay Goodrow also scored in the first period as the Sharks recorded three goals in the opening 20 minutes for the second straight time against Edmonton this season.
Last time, on Jan. 29th, the Oilers would score four unanswered goals, including an equalizer with 59 seconds left by Bouchard and the winner with 1:06 remaining in overtime by Zach Hyman.
Leon Draisaitl scored off an assist from McDavid on the Oilers’ league-leading power play in the first as Edmonton trailed by two goals heading into the second period.
Bouchard tallied his 17th goal of the season to get Edmonton within one in the second period, scoring off assists from McDavid and Mattias Ekholm.
The goal gave Bouchard 20 points in his last 10 games. The last defenseman to do that for the Oilers was legendary Paul Coffey in 1986.
Trent Frederic evened the game at 3 at 2:54 into the third on a wrister from Matt Savoie, who drove the puck all the way up the ice past Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov before feeding the former Boston Bruin for the easy finish.
Askarov made 20 saves for San Jose.
The teams then traded goals, with San Jose first retaking the lead as Alexander Wennberg scored on a wrister less than three minutes after Frederic’s equalizer, with Jake Walman evening the game again for the Oilers less than two minutes after that.
The scoring frenzy concluded with Mukhamadullin’s winner at the 9:27 mark of the third period, after William Eklund found him at the point for the powerful slap shot.
The Oilers have scored 17 goals in three games since coming back from the Olympics but have now lost two of those contests.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Minnesota United holds off FC Cincinnati in historically cold matchup
Feb 21, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; Minnesota United forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) stops during the first half against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images Kelvin Yeboah scored in the 66th minute and Drake Callender made four saves as Minnesota United presented Cameron Knowles his first victory as head coach with a 1-0 shutout of FC Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Roman Celentano finished with four saves for FC Cincinnati (1-1-0, 3 points).
Yeboah, who scored the tying goal in the 90th minute in Minnesota’s season opening 2-2 draw at Austin FC, headed in a rebound of a Tomas Chancalay free kick from the top left edge of the box for the game-winner. Chancalay’s shot caromed off the far right post into the middle of the box where Yeboah drilled in a hard header.
The score was set up when a free kick was awarded after Cincinnati’s Gerardo Valenzuela tripped Joaquin Pereyra just inches outside the penalty box.
Cincinnati, which opened the season with a 2-0 victory over Atlanta United, nearly tied it five minutes later on a curling left-footed shot from the middle of the box by Obinna Nwobodo that was heading for the right corner of the goal, but Callender made a diving one-arm save to knock it wide of the post.
Chancalay had a chance to extend the lead in the 83rd minute when he went in on a breakaway, but Celentano made a leaping two-hand deflection of his left-footed shot from the left side of the box that was ticketed for the top right corner of the goal.
Minnesota United (1-1-0, 4 points) moved into first place in the Western Conference with the win. Star striker James Rodriguez, who won the Golden Boot playing for Colombia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, dressed but did not make his debut for the Loons.
The temperature at kickoff was 20 degrees with a wind-chill of 11 making it the coldest game played in team history for Cincinnati.
–Field Level Media
No. 16 Texas Tech hands No. 4 Iowa State first home loss
Sharks beat Oilers to halt five-game slide
