Cardinals stars Palmer, Johnson struggle out of the gate.

azcentral sports NFL writer Bob McManaman rates the star players from Sunday’s Cardinals-Lions game. (Rating star system is from zero stars to five.)

CARSON PALMER

He was intercepted three times, including once for a touchdown, and never really looked comfortable in the pocket or in many of his decisions when looking to throw downfield further than 20 yards. Palmer only managed one touchdown pass, and it came at garbage time.

DAVID JOHNSON

almost Arizona’s chalked superstarup 100 running yards back from scrimmage, but he danced around too much instead of hitting the holes when they were there, he fumbled twice and he left the game with a wrist injury.

LARRY FITZGERALD

The Cardinals’ veteran wide receiver finished with six receptions for 74 yards, which normally would be a respectful afternoon for the future Hall of Famer. But there were seven other passes he either dropped or couldn’t get to, which is incredibly unusual with his sure hands.

PATRICK PETERSON

The All-Pro cornerback did his job, keeping his primary receiver – usually Marvin Jones Jr. – from making any big plays. Jones did score a second-quarter touchdown, but it wasn’t Peterson’s fault. If there is any blame, it’s for not assigning Peterson to shadow slot receiver Golden Tate, who torched the Cardinals with 10 catches for 107 yards.

MATTHEW STAFFORD

The NFL’s highest-paid quarterback didn’t disappoint. After a slow start, Stafford found a rhythm and quietly dissected and exploited a very good Cardinals secondary to the tune of four touchdowns and 292 passing yards.