Bait & six: CB Slay bamboozles Rosen
GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s an NFL cliché, the crafty cornerback fooling the rookie quarterback.
That’s exactly what happened in the biggest play of the Lions’ 17-3 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.
Darius Slay, who tied for the lead in the NFL with eight interceptions last season, stepped in front of intended receiver Trent Sherfield, picked off Josh Rosen’s pass and returned it 67 yards for the game’s first touchdown, putting his team up 10-0 in the third quarter.
“I kind of baited him,” Slay said. “I knew it was coming. I knew it before the play even happened. The only thing I was concerned about was if I was going to score with it. I knew it was coming, and I made a play on it.”
Rosen said Slay “made it seem like he was giving [Sherfield] space. It made it seem like he was playing really soft because it was third-and-long. But right when our receiver broke at the sticks, he just made a really good play. He’s a veteran. That’s why maybe go away from him next time.”
The Lions (5-8), losers of five of their previous six overall, ended an eight-game losing streak in Arizona that dated to 1993. It was a matchup of two first-year coaches who are having their struggles, and this one clearly went to Detroit’s Matt Patricia over the Cardinals’ Steve Wilks.
“It is great to get the win,” Patricia said. “It is great to see some of the improvement in some of the things we have been doing in the last month or last three weeks or so.”
Arizona (3-10), which fell flat coming off its biggest win of the season a week earlier at Green Bay, avoided being shut out with Zane Gonzalez’s 22-yard field goal that cut the lead to 10-3 with 8:14 to play.
Rosen completed four of six passes as Arizona drove to the 5-yard line, but a fade pass to Larry Fitzgerald was incomplete, and the Cardinals, who fell to 1-6 at home, settled for the field goal.