EAST LANSING- In the famous song by the band Kiss “Detroit Rock City,” they say “You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City” and that is exactly what has happened to fans of the Detroit sports teams.
If you are a fan of Detroit sports, this has been a dream start to the new year in every sport which we have not been able to say in over a decade. Each team has so many positives going for them as we look forward.
Detroit Lions
Let us start with the team that has been the best in Detroit for the past 2 years and that is the Lions.
Last weekend, the Lions made history when they clinched the first overall seed in the NFC with a win over the Minnesota Vikings. With an outstanding performance from Jahmyr Gibbs who had 170 all-purpose yards with four touchdowns.
A Lions defense that had struggled in recent weeks giving up more points and yards than they did all season managed to frustrate and stop the high-powered Vikings offense.
Holding quarterback Sam Darnold to 18/41 with only 166 yards in the air. Lions defensive back Amik Robertson played a huge role in that as he was guarding the league’s best receiver Justin Jefferson. Holding Jefferson to only three receptions for 54 yards.
The return of linebacker Alex Anzalone who overcame a broken forearm in the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, proved to be huge as the Lions only held the Vikings to nine points which was a season low.
That win also gave another piece of history for the Lions, it was the first time the Lions won the division in back-to-back years.
The road to the Super Bowl in New Orleans runs through Detroit in the NFC which is also the first time in history. They will take on the Washington Commanders on Saturday night at 8 o’clock where the winner moves on to the NFC championship game.
Detroit Red Wings
Switching from Ford Field to Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings are the hottest team in the National Hockey League.
Ever since firing former head coach Derek Lalonde on December 26th and bringing in new head coach Todd McLellan the Red Wings are 7-2-0 in those games.
Recently coming off a 6-2 win over the Seattle Kraken, with four of those goals coming within the first eight minutes of the hockey game. This is the fastest Detroit has scored four goals in a game since 1987 when that happened against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Also, forcing Seattle to make a goalie change just six minutes into the game to try and prevent any more damage coming their way.
Under the new regime headed by Todd McLellan, they had won seven straight games with five of them coming against teams that are currently in the playoffs or competing with Detroit for the playoffs.
Star forwards Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane, Alex Debrincat, and Dylan Larkin have benefitted tremendously from the change as they are contributing every game in terms of goals and assists to win games.
The defense has taken a huge step forward as well and veterans like Ben Chiarot and Erik Gustafsson have been reborn under the new system and are making significant contributions.
For the first time all season, there is hope that this team can accomplish the goal that they set out to do before the season and that is to make the playoffs as Detroit sits four points outside the wild card spots with games in hand.
Detroit Pistons
Staying in Little Caesars Arena, the most surprising team of the year is the Detroit Pistons who for the first time are above .500 in the month of January since 2018.
Led by star guard Cade Cunningham and new head coach JB Bickerstaff have won ten of their last twelve games. The most recent coming against the current three seed in the east New York Knicks winning 124-119.
Cade would have an outstanding performance with 36 points on 51.8% shooting from the field to help lead the Pistons in New York to a huge win against a good Knicks team.
Cade is proving himself to be the superstar we all knew he could be coming out of the draft in 2021. JB Bickerstaff has helped bring the pistons out of the bottom of the league where they have been since drafting the superstar, however, Cade and JB are not alone in this effort to rewrite the past.
Center Jalen Duren along with veteran acquisitions in forward Tobias Harris, guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and guard Malik Beasley continue to prove their worth with big buckets coming in big moments.
Even with the huge loss of guard Jaden Ivey who went down earlier this month against the Orlando Magic with a broken fibula, this team has not quit on the season and is determined to set a standard in Detroit.
Young players like forward Ausar Thompson and forward Ron Holland II are rising to the challenge with Ivey’s absence as they are both averaging roughly seven points per game they play in.
The Pistons are in unfamiliar territory as they currently sit at the eighth seed and are in the play-in games. With more than half the season left in front of them and lots of work ahead, they are putting themselves in a great position to make some noise come April.
Detroit Tigers
Finally, head over to Comerica Park where the Tigers may not be in action until February with spring training occurring soon with pitchers and catchers reporting, but that does not mean that the Tigers are not making noise in the news.
The Tigers and Major League Baseball are in free agency and the Tigers have made two key signings in pitcher Alex Cobb and former all-star infielder Gleyber Torres. The latter is a bigger signing to help the middle infield have a confident bat and glove to help the younger players.
Gleyber Torres comes over from the New York Yankees where he played second base and where he will play for the Tigers. Current second baseman Colt Keith will be pushed over to first base to make room for the 28-year-old from Venezuela.
Besides the two players the Tigers have signed, they are currently in the sweepstakes for the biggest free agent remaining in third basemen Alex Bregman.
Bregman looking for a new home could potentially come to the Motor City and link up with former manager AJ Hinch.
He would add experience to a young team that made the playoffs for the first time in ten years. With his experience, he also brings his high-powered bat that can help a Detroit offense that lacked to produce.
There are also rumors that the Tigers are interested in adding one more pitcher and the name that is being thrown around is former Tiger Jack Flaherty, who was with the Tigers this time last year before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Trey Sweeney and prospect catcher Thayron Liranzo.
Many fans would welcome this reunion with open arms as Flaherty was a top-end pitcher during his time in Detroit.
This year has been a good start for the fans of all the Detroit Teams, with the city on fire and being reborn for this new era. All the teams have taken on the moniker of the city being blue-collar, tough and gritty.
Detroit sports are on their way to getting back to the mountain top of professional sports.