Sports: Lions Have a Winning Record After 20-17 Win

The Lions beat Kirk Cousins and the Redskins 20-17 Sunday at Ford Field.  Matthew Stafford was 18 of 29 for 266 yards with one TD and no turnovers in the 100th game of his career.  The Lions (4-3) have won three straight thanks in large part to Stafford making clutch throws in the final minutes, giving him 24 career wins with game-winning drives in the fourth quarter.  The despite injuries, the Lions’ defense made it a tough day for former Spartan star and Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins.  Detroit's Darius Slay left the game with a hamstring injury in the second quarter.  Detroit hits the road to face Houston after being at home for three straight games.  Broadcast time is 12 noon Sunday on WBCK.

 NFL

The Vikings lost their first game of the season, 21-10 to Philadelphia.   The Eagles sacked their former quarterback Sam Bradford six times.

Cleveland remains the NFL's only winless team, losing to Cincinnati to a 31-17.

Both kickers missed short field goals that would have won the game in overtime and the Seahawks and Cardinals settled for a 6-6 tie Sunday night.

Tonight, Denver hosts Houston on Monday Night Football.

MLB

The Cubs beat the Dodgers 5-0 on Saturday night, to get back to the World Series for the first time since 1945.  And they haven't won it since 1908.

Cubs’ pitcher Kyle Hendricks completely shut the Dodgers down for the first seven innings.  He gave up a single on the first pitch, and a single on his last pitch, and in between no one reached base.

The Cubs head to Cleveland to play the Indians on Tuesday night.   The Tribe hasn’t won a championship since 1948, so either way someone is breaking a curse.

Tickets for the Cleveland games 1 & 2 are selling for an average of almost $4,000 each, and tickets for games 3, 4, and 5 in Chicago are selling for an average cost of $7,200 per seat.

Red Wings

The 4-2 Red Wings host Carolina on Tuesday night and head to St. Louis on Thursday.

Pistons

The Pistons head to Toronto Wednesday to open the regular season.  The home opener is Friday as the Orlando Magic come to the Palace of Auburn Hills.

College Football

Ohio State dropped four spots to No. 6 in the AP college football poll after its first loss of the season  and Penn State moved into the rankings for the first time since 2011 after upsetting the Buckeyes.  Ohio State blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and lost 24-21. The Nittany Lions entered the rankings at No. 24.  Western Michigan remains at No. 20.

Alabama is No. 1 again.  Michigan moved up to No. 2, followed by Clemson, Washington and Louisville.

NASCAR

Joey Logano won the Hellmann's 500 at Talladega yesterday, and grabbed a spot in the top eight of the Chase.  Denny Hamlin came in third and saved his whole season by a distance of two feet.   He finished  a fraction of a second over Kurt Busch, which gave him the exact amount of points he needed to get into the top eight on a tiebreaker.

Golf

Justin Thomas fired an 8-under 64 to successfully defend his title at the PGA Tour CIMB Classic in Malaysia.  Thomas finished at 23 under par to win by three shots.

 High School Football Playoffs

Six area teams made the High School Football Playoffs.

Division 2 – Region 1 – District 2
Lakeview (6-2) at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (7-2)
Winner takes on Portage Northern (5-4) or Portage Central (8-1)*

Division 3 – Region 2 – District 2
Harper Creek (7-2) at Coldwater (7-2)
Winner takes on Vicksburg (7-2) or Chelsea (9-0)*

Division 4 – Region 2 – District 2
Pennfield (5-4) at Lake Odessa-Lakewood (8-1)*
Winner takes on Williamston (5-4) or Lansing Sexton (6-3)

Division 5 – Region 3 – District 2
Olivet (5-4) at Berrien Springs (8-1)*
Winner takes on Buchanan (5-3) or Dowagiac (6-3)

Division 7 – Region 3 – District 2
Dansville (6-3) at Homer (7-2)*
Winner takes on Springport (7-2) or Concord (7-2)

Division 8 – Region 4 – District 1
Colon (5-4) at Climax-Scotts (9-0)*
Winner takes on Mendon (7-2) or St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic (8-1)