The Lions had two players get upgraded, but two unexpected additions to their Thursday report. The Chiefs continue to play games with their report, listing a bunch of players even though they have practiced in Full, although WR Xavier Worthy was downgraded to NP for his Shoulder/Ankle. Chiefs Thursday: Another day of just stupid Practice report posting by the Chiefs, listing the same players from yesterday that all have some sort of minor injury but still practiced in full. Complete waste of time probably toes the line on the NFLs reporting rules. They did have one player downgraded, and that was WR Xavier Worthy, who was listed as NP for today. Wednesday: Not even gonna try, this is dumb to list their entire team as FP with a bunch of ouchies. Someone must have run afoul of the leagues reporting in the recent past. Lions Thursday: Both Khaliff Raymond (LP) and Amon-Ra St Brown (FP) were upgraded Thursday, showing that they are trending toward playing on Sunday night. However, two unexpected additions at the Lions two hardest hit positions were added in Gio Manu (LP – Knee) and Avonte Maddox (LP – Hamstring). Unclear if the injuries occurred yesterday at practice or if they left during practice today. The rest of the listed players had the same designation as yesterday and continue to trend not available this weekend. Wednesday: The report was littered withs starters that Did Not Practice, including new additions St Brown, Arnold, Joseph and Raymond joining holdovers Decker, Cunningham and Vaki. Brian Branch was a surprise Limited participant with and ankle, but Alim McNeil was a full participant, bolstering is odds of being activated before Sunday.

As expected, the Lions came out of the Bengals game a very beat up team, with several starers not practic9ing, including holdovers from last week and a few that were injured on Sunday. The Chiefs just put their entire roster on their practice report, all with Full participant designations.  Feels like some gamesmanship.   Chiefs Wednesday:  Not even gonna try, this is dumb to list their entire team as FP with a bunch of ouchies.  Someone must have run afoul of the leagues reporting in the recent past.     Lions   Wednesday:  The report was littered withs starters that Did Not Practice, including new additions St Brown, Arnold, Joseph and Raymond joining holdovers Decker, Cunningham and Vaki.  Brian Branch was a surprise Limited participant with and ankle, but Alim McNeil was a full participant, bolstering is odds of being activated before Sunday.

The Lions started the 21-day clock on Alim McNeil last week, so his window to either go on season-ending Injured reserve or join the active roster is already a 1/3 over. The expectations are that he will join the team this week against Kansas City, but that means someone form the active roster will need to be sent to a reserve list or cut/released. If we make the assumption that one of the 10 DL that the Lions have on the active roster will have to go, it pretty much comes down to Chris Smith or Mekhi Wingo in our opinion. Tyler Lacy and Tyrus Wheat are the other depth players on the DL, but it’s pretty clear why Wingo and Smith are the most likely cut. Below is the case for and against seeing one of these two get the Ziggy: Chris Smith – No. 90 6’1” 316lbs 25 Years Old 2023 UDFA (Lions) from Notre Dame Exp – 2 Years Contract Expires: 2025 - $657K Remining ERFA in 2026 Why cut? Zero Cap Liability 2 Tackles (o solo) and 1 QB Hit in 5 games in three years Likely won’t get picked up or signed by anyone Has been Inactive all Five games this year Primarily an IDL Why Keep? Cheap, likely has played even or outplayed Wingo Same Cap Savings as Wingo (~$678K in remaining 2025 game checks) Still relatively young at 25 years old Mekhi Wingo - No. 94 6’0” 288lbs 22 Years Old 2024 6th Rd Pick (Lions) from LSU Exp – 2 Years Contract Expires: 2027 - $3.08M remaining UFA in 2028 Why cut? Minor Dead Cap Liability ($46K) 10 tackles (2 solo) in 12 games in two years Been an inactive for Four weeks (Week 2) this year Depth chart aligns at same IDL position as McNeil Why Keep? Brad Holmes Draft Pick Still young at 22 Years Old Likely would get claimed by another team and not make it to Practice Squad Same Cap Savings as Smith (~$678K in remaining 2025 game checks) Versatile size can play End or DT Conclusion: I think the logical conclusion is that when McNeil is activated, Chris Smith will likely be the player that is cut and the Lions will likely try to bring him onto the practice squad. Mainly because he hasn’t been activated for a single game this season, suggesting he is depth position #10 of 10 DL on the roster. There is a small chance that Wingo gets cut due to lack of development, but Brad Holmes hates to give up on his draft picks before making sure that they are 100% replaceable.

Week 6 NFL coverage starts Thursday night with an Amazon streaming only* game (PHI @ NYG) and a third straight Sunday Morning UK game DEN @ NYJ) in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and back to double-header Monday Night (BUF @ ATL and CHI @ WAS.) The Lions, after surviving several injuries and a late Bengals rally will be traveling to the Kansas City to take on the Chiefs on NBS on Sunday Night Football. The CBS early game is regional, with the CBS Late Split with Upper Midwest getting CIN @ GB and South and both coasts getting SF @ TB. The FOX single game is also regional, with the bulk of the country getting the early game between DAL @ CAR. There is one late game (TEN @ LAV) and will be seen only in a smattering of bigger markets outside Vegas and Tennessee. BYE weeks are Houston and Minnesota NATIONAL BROADCASTS Thursday Night: Philadelphia @ NY Giants (Amazon) Sunday Morning: Denver @ NY Jets (in London) (NFLN) Sunday Night: Detroit @ Kansas City (NBC) Monday Night 7:15 PM ET: Buffalo @ Atlanta (ESPN) Monday Night 8:15 PM ET: Chicago @ Washington (ABC) PHI-NYG will be simulcast on WTXF (FOX/29) Philadelphia and WNYW (FOX/5) New York. DEN-NYJ will be simulcast on KMGH (ABC/7) Denver and WNBC (NBC/4) New York. BUF-ATL will be simulcast on WGRZ (NBC/2) Buffalo and WUPA (CBS/69) Atlanta. CBS Early Game CBS Late Game Fox Single game All listings are unofficial and subject to change. Check back often for updates. Courtesy of the folks at 506 Sports

After almost blowing a three-score lead in Cincinnati last week, the Lions will come into Arrowhead stadium looking to keep their winning streak alive. The Chiefs will be on a short week, having played against Jacksonville on Monday night football. Unlike Detroit, the Chiefs are fairly healthy in their frontline players but do have significant depth players on IR on defense. This game will be interesting, as the Chiefs aren’t nearly as dominating as years past as their core gets older, and the Lions may be without several starters due to injury. Lions Better team Over Chiefs....On Paper The Chiefs Offense is hovering around the Top 10 in Total Yards Per Game (8th at 361), Rush (11th at 120) and Pass (9th at 241) and scoring (t12th at 25). Their Defense is t13th in Yard per game allowed (314), 7th in passing YPG (190.6), 21st in Rush YPG (123.4) and t13th in Pts per game (21.4). The Lions rank better in almost all categories than the Chiefs, so this should be an entertaining game to watch, and likely a shootout unless the Lions can control the clock with their running game and keep Mahomes off the field. Time: 8:20pm Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO Field Surface: NorthBridge Bermudagrass – Installed 2023 TV: NBC Sunday Night Football Broadcast Crew: Mike Tirico, Chris Collingsworth and Melissa Stark Radio: Lions Radio Network Detroit Lions Schedule - Radio Affiliates | Detroit Lions - DetroitLions.com Radio Crew: Dan Miller, Lomas Brown, TJ Lang Streaming: Peacock, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports App Referee: Craig Wrolstad

Name: Craig Wrolstad Age: 60 Promoted To Referee: 2014 Graphic Courtesy of Football Zebras Last Game: Week 5 2025 TB @ SEA Last Lions Game: 01/14/24 – LAR 23 @ DET 24 Wildcard Game The Los Angeles Rams committed 4 penalties for 36 yards. They were flagged a total of 4 times. The Detroit Lions committed 5 penalties for 34 yards. They were flagged a total of 5 times. Together there were 9 penalties for 70 yards. There were 9 total flags in this game. Notable Craig Wrolstad’s crew penalty tendencies align with the wort offender on the Chiefs in Juwan Taylor. Taylor leads the NFL in total penalties with 8 thrown against him, including Holding (4), False Start (2) and Illegal Formation (2). His liberal starts and deep set backs have been a contention of every team and fanbase not named the Chiefs for many years. This crew has called 18 Offensive Holdings and 10 False starts in 5 games, so expect to see Taylor flagged on multiple occasions. The tendencies may also impact the Lions, as they have had their fair share of Holding and False starts, but nowhere as many as the Chiefs.

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQI89TDfNC8 X: https://x.com/TheGreyManes FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/events/660585150438853 TWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/lionsgreymanes If you're a Lions fan feeling that sinking "here we go again" sensation watching Detroit's secondary get decimated by injuries - just like last year's defensive collapse - we have the analytical breakdown you need. This week, we dissect the Terrion Arnold and DJ Reed losses, evaluate whether Rock Ya-Sin and Amik Robertson can hold the line in man coverage, and preview what defensive adjustments Kelvin Sheppard must make against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. We're also breaking down the offensive tackle rotation between Manu, Skipper, and Cochrane, plus examining whether Dan Campbell's "next man up" philosophy can overcome the roster attrition that's testing Detroit's depth like never before. No panic. No hot takes. Just experienced analysis grounded in film study, historical context, and the data-driven perspective that separates the Grey Manes from the noise. Tune in to understand what the Lions' brass is really thinking - and what it means for their Super Bowl aspirations.

NFL games are four quarters long, and as the headline alludes, the Lions pretty much forgot how to play defense in the fourth quarter of what should have been a cakewalk win. Entering the 4th qtr with a 28-3 lead, having picked off the opposing QB three times, you would expect that a team would close it out strong and pile on in the 4th. Not yesterday, as the Lions wilted under the pressure of defensive backfield injuries and an offense that got away from what had led them to 28 pts, allowing the Bengals to claw their way back within two score and make it interesting. With the Chiefs and Bucs looming, and injuries mounting, the Lions need to get themselves in better position to bolster their secondary as they face two high-profile QBs that will make you pay for trotting out guys that aren’t ready to play big boy ball. Barnes calls "Game" sacking Browning for a Safety What Went Wrong: There were three glaring issues in this game, and a not so subtle third that was a result of one of the top two. First were the in-game injuries to an already depleted secondary. Terrion Arnold was playing pretty well (one bad hold notwithstanding) and held Ja’Maar Chase to reasonable output through three quarters. Then he reinjured his shoulder, left the game, and Rock Ya-Sin started cramping. At one point, we had street free agent Tre Flowers, all of one week of practice, playing against two of the best WRs in the game. The second issue was the pass rush not getting home. It was plenty disruptive with 9 QB Hits and 2 sacks but felt like browning should have been sacked at least 5-6 times and we just couldn’t get him on the ground. This has popped up a couple times now, we need to get it fixed before next week. Third was the inopportune penalties *8-56 accepted), that impacted the game. There were a couple DPIs/Holds on defense, some were suspect, that wiped out 3rd down stops and Sacks and turnovers, and the offense had a couple of false starts that put us behind the sticks. Not unexpected based on those Crews tendencies, but still needs to be cleaned up. Lastly, the collapse of the defense in the 4th qtr, allowing 21 points and the Bengals to come back from being down three scores made this game a lot closer than it should have been. Injuries clearly played a part, but this is the first game where Shep didn’t make great second half adjustments to stay ahead of his opponent IMO. Manu Giving up Strip Sack to Hendrickson What Went Right: Despite a double-digit win that covered the spread, this sure feels like a loss. However, there was plenty to like, including the offense dominating and capitalizing on Bengals errors, the run game and passing game looking sharp, and once again putting up 30+ points in a game. Standouts on offense were LaPorta, St Brown, Goff and Gibbs/Monty. For defense, Campbell, Barnes Amik and Kerby all had great games. Special shou t out to several players that broke up passes, including Anzalone (3), Ya-Sin (2), Arnold (2), joseph (2) and both Amik and Tyliek Williams (1 each). Anzalone Interception A secondary shout out to Terrion Arnold. He has been getting blasted by the fans due to the penalties (some deserved, many not), but this stat caught my eye: Bengals points scored with Terrion Arnold on the field — 3 Bengals points scored with Terrion Arnold off the field — 24 Sometimes grass isn’t always greener…. What’s Next: The Lions return to NBC Sunday Night Football with a trip to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs. Chiefs will be coming off a Monday night game on the road in Jacksonville, so Lion may catch them on short rest. They most certainly aren’t playing like the Super Bowl champs of years past, but they are still dangerous and will be a massive test of perseverance for the Lions. Chiefs are pretty much middle third in every offense ranking (Yards, Pts, Rush, Pass). Their defense fares better, being in the top 15 in most stats, including 5th for pts allowed, all pending tonight’s outcome

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Last practice report of the week just came out, and both teams had some interesting movement on players in practice and what their game designations are. Bengals Friday: Looks like the Bengals had a couple of downgrades for Shemar Stewart and Charlie Jones, who both were LP yesterday, but did not practice today. Stewart is Out, Jones is Questionable for Sunday. The rest of the players on the report all had a Full Practice, but are listed with “Unspecified” on the official Injury page fed by the NFL system, which is an interesting designation and likely against league rules. Regardless, I expect them to all be available. Thursday: A few surprises, with Noah Fant improving to a Full Participant, Stewart and Jones improving to LPs, which means that all are trending toward playing this week. Two vets were given rest days, but backup C Matt Lee appears to have left practice with a knee injury. That could tax and already thin OL depth for the Bengals and is something to keep an eye on. The three players listed were TE Noah Fant (LP) and Shemar Stewart (both holdovers from last week) along with WR Charlie Jones, who was hurt in the Bengals last game. Not much to analyze, Fant is likely the closest to playing, which would give their offense a boost, but Burrow is unavailable on IR, so it may not matter. Lions Friday: As expected, Vaki, Cunningham and McNeil (despite the 50/50 remark form Campbell this morning) are all Out for the game. Unfortunately, the Lions lone downgrade was Khalil Dorsey, who went through a Full Practice yesterday coming back form a concussion, but did not practice today. That impacts the Lions depth, as Arnold, even with a Full Practice, is coming off a shoulder issue and Joseph is questionable with that knee. Decker is also Questionable, but this will make the fourth straight week he has missed every practice and been listed as Questionable, so I expect him to play and play well. Thursday: Big changes was DJ Reed moving to IR and Terrion Arnold being a Full Participant, while Khalil Dorsey also improved form his concussion to a LP, keeping him on track to play. The other four DNPs were still DNP, which for Decker is nothing new, but troublesome for Vaki and Cunningham. Joseph will need to improve tomorrow to at least a LP in order to trend toward getting in there against the Bengals. Wednesday: The report was pretty much as expected, with everyone that was injured in the Browns win (Reed, Arnold, Cunningham and Joseph) showing up in some capacity. Holdovers (Vaki and Decker) were also listed, but that was to be expected. Alim McNeil returned to practice form his knee injury and was a Limited Participant, indicating his 21-day return to lay window may very well not need the entire time. The only surprise was Khalil Dorsey, who suffered a concussion at some point between Sunday and today.

As Week 5 dawns, this Lions and Bengals matchup was likely seen as marquee game at the start of the season being an AFC contender vs an NFC contender. However, with the loss of Joe Burrow to a toe injury and placed on IR, and the Bengals struggling mightily on offense, the game suddenly looks more like David vs Goliath. The teams haven't met since 2021 in Dan Campbells inaugural season, ending in a 34-11 Bengals win pushing the Lions to 0-6. Things are a bit different now, with the Lions a well-balanced team and NFC Contender, and the Bengals a top-heavy team that lost its highest paid and best player to IR, crippling their offense the last two weeks. Brent still has the prediction lead over Dan on a tiebreaker after four weeks (with both sitting on 3-1 records) due to being off by four total points on the Lions cumulative scores for the season. Dan is still nipping at his heels, having nailed the Lions point total against the Browns. Mike and Chirs are sitting in 3rd and 4th in essentially a statistical tie, with each at 2-2 and being off the points by 30 and 31 respectively. Not sure how much movement in the standing we will see this week, as everyone picked the Lions and only a 10-point spread between everyone on their guesses for the Lions final scored points. sitting at 2-2, after four weeks, with a Week 3 is done, and we have a clear leader in Brent. Not only is he 2-1 in his picks, but over Dan his point total predictions for the Lions through three games was spot on at 103. Dan is second at 2-1 and a 17 pt diff, Chris is 3rd at 1-2 with a 21 pt diff and Mike is looking to move up this week but is currently sitting in last at 1-2 with a 21 pt difference. Mike The Lions are coming into Week 5 after beating the Cleveland Browns and their No. 1 Defense. They travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals and their... not No. 1 Defense or their not No. 1 offense. The Bengals are a shell of what they should be with 2 of the best WR's in the NFL, but their star QB is down, and they have not fortified that position. Chase and Higgins will be a chore, but they cannot carry a team from the WR position with a below average QB. The Running Game has been absent the last few games, and I don't see it coming back this week either. On the defensive side the Bengals give up an average of 397.8 yards per game, ranking them 30th in the NFL, and they have allowed 119 points on the season for an average of 29.7 pts per game. We all know that the Lions are one of the Top 5 (I believe Top 3) team in the NFL. This doesn't change this week. While I do believe in the premise of "Any Given Sunday" I don't see it happening here. Lions will win big !! Lions 41, Bengals 17 Brent The Detroit Lions are on another winning streak. Last season, the motor city kitties won 11 in a row before succumbing to the Buffalo Bills late in the season. I am beginning to think the Lions can win many in a row again this season after their performance over the past three weeks. Offensively, the Lions offense is humming along. Most importantly, the Lions offensive line has not allowed a sack of QB Jared Goff since game one, are running the ball at will, and Amon Ra St Brown is making a case as the best receiver in the NFL. The Lions are averaging 34.3 points per game and may break the scoreboard in Cincinnati this Sunday. The Bengals offense is a work in today’s NFL given the Bengals spend $94M on their top three players. Of significance, the architect of the offense Joe Burrow is out for three months after having toe surgery. As a result, the Bengals lack the firepower to keep up with the powerful Lions. Expect a high scoring Lions offense to put up large offensive numbers and the Bengals to struggle to keep up. Lions 48, Bengals 9 Chris Getting my score prediction in now because my week is insane with new client onboarding: "The Bungles offense without Burrow isn't just struggling - it's fundamentally broken. Jake Browning's Monday night meltdown shows you what happens when you combine poor pocket presence with an offensive line that can't block anyone wearing a different colored jersey. Cincinnati is averaging 2.1 seconds of protection before pressure arrives. Against Denver, Browning completed just 18 of 32 passes because he's seeing ghosts that aren't even there yet. When your quarterback is already scrambling before the rush gets home, you're not running an NFL offense - you're running a scrimmage drill. Hellooooo Aidan Hutchinson. Detroit's pass rush doesn't need exotic packages here. Hutchinson and company can win with basic four-man pressure while the secondary brackets Chase and Higgins. Cincinnati's running game averages 3.2 yards per carry, so they can't establish anything on the ground to help their struggling quarterback. The real tell? Eleven penalties for 65 yards last game. That's not bad luck - that's a team operating without rhythm or confidence. When your offense can't stay on schedule because of mental errors, you're gifting short fields to a Lions offense that just hung 34 on Cleveland's top-ranked defense. Browning will throw two picks trying to force balls to Chase. The Lions will control time of possession and turn this into a blowout by the third quarter. Cincinnati's secondary can't cover Detroit's receiver depth, and this becomes a showcase for Goff's precision against a defense that will be on the field too long. The Bengals aren't competitive without their franchise quarterback. This won't be close. Lions 38, Bengals 10 Dan If Joe Burrow was around, this might have been a shootout and the highest scoring game of the year in the NFL, but alas he is not. Jake Browning has not been great, and the Bengals offense has slipped to dead last in the NFL in yards per game at 205.3 and 30th in pts per game at 15.3. Neither bodes well against a Lions defense that has been getting better each week (aside from opening drives) and is now hovering outside the top ten in most major categories since that Week 1 debacle. Only concern is that Higgins and Chase get loose against a beat-up Lions CB room could lead to some exciting long TDs, if Browning can get some protection against the Lions no 2 ranked pass rush. I believe that the Lions will absolutely stifle the Bengals pathetic running game (dead last at 50 yards per game) and have jail break pass rush against browning. Likewise, outside of Trey Hendrickson, I don't see much opposition on the Bengals defense to stopping the Lions offense. The rush defense is ranked 26th giving up 135.8 yards a game (right below the Ravens, and you know how that worked out) and nowhere as good as the top ranked Browns, who the Lions humbled last week. Their pass defense is worse, ranked 30th giving up 262 yards per game, so if the Lions can keep Goff clean, and there isn't any reason to believe they can't, the Lions should have guys running free all over the place at every level. The Bengals also give up 29.8 pts per game, which is 27th worst and hovering around the Ravens, Browns and Bears, who the Lions put up 38, 34 and 52 against in the last three weeks. Bottom line, the Lions will get at least one, maybe two scores from their Defense or Special Teams in addition to marching up and down the field on offense. While the Bengals may get a few deep shots on the Lions secondary for scores, I don't see any way they keep Goff and his weapons under control outside of help from penalties or the Lions shooting themselves in the foot. This has all the earmarks of a blowout loss and it's not the week the Bengals right the ship. Lions 45, Bengals 13

Practice reports no 2 for the week just dropped and the Bengals had a surprise addition into a couple of veterans getting rest days. The Lion saw most stay the same but had two improvements and DJ Reed coming off as he went on IR yesterday. Browns Thursday: A few surprises, with Noah Fant improving to a Full Participant, Stewart and Jones improving to LPs, which means that all are trending toward playing this week. Two vets were given rest days, but backup C Matt Lee appears to have left practice with a knee injury. That could tax and already thin OL depth for the Bengals and is something to keep an eye on. Wednesday: The three players listed were TE Noah Fant (LP) and Shemar Stewart (both holdovers from last week) along with WR Charlie Jones, who was hurt in the Bengals last game. Not much to analyze, Fant is likely the closest to playing, which would give their offense a boost, but Burrow is unavailable on IR, so it may not matter. Lions Thursday: Big changes was DJ Reed moving to IR and Terrion Arnold being a Full Participant, while Khalil Dorsey also improved form his concussion to a LP, keeping him on track to play. The other four DNPs were still DNP, which for Decker is nothing new, but troublesome for Vaki and Cunningham. Joseph will need to improve tomorrow to at least a LP in order to trend toward getting in there against the Bengals. Wednesday: The report was pretty much as expected, with everyone that was injured in the Browns win (Reed, Arnold, Cunningham and Joseph) showing up in some capacity. Holdovers (Vaki and Decker) were also listed, but that was to be expected. Alim McNeil returned to practice form his knee injury and was a Limited Participant, indicating his 21-day return to lay window may very well not need the entire time. The only surprise was Khalil Dorsey, who suffered a concussion at some point between Sunday and today.