Offense banged up; ‘D’ does a bang-up job
eight passes for a whopping 12 yards. That’s hard to do. Three of Johnson’s receptions lost yards. Another gained just 1. Quarterback Josh Rosen wasn’t sharp, and he had a pass intercepted and returned 67 yards for a touchdown. It was a backbreaker. Larry Fitzgerald didn’t have a catch until the third quarter, and the tight ends remain non-existent targets in the passing game.
Defense
This unit played well for almost the entire game. It gave up just 10 points. But seven of those points came at an awful time for the Cardinals. The Cardinals had just scored their only points midway through the fourth quarter. They desperately needed a stop. They didn’t get it. The Lions basically ran directly at them. And through them. Running back Zach Zenner rushed for 45 yards in a 75yard drive. Two penalties aided Detroit greatly in that possession. Otherwise, the Cardinals defense played well all afternoon, as it should have, because the Lions are a bad offensive team. Linebacker Haason Reddick led the Cardinals with 11 tackles and safety Antoine Bethea had eight. Defensive end Chandler Jones was strangely quiet. He had one tackle, and that came on the first play of the game. The Lions finished with just 218 yards of offense, but they scored a touchdown the one time they were in the red zone.
Special teams
With Christian Kirk out for the season with foot injury, Patrick Peterson assumed punt-return duties. He had a couple of openings but couldn’t quite break one. Cardinals punter Andy Lee had a net average of 45.2 yards, and the coverage team was excellent. Kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a 54-yarder. It clanged off the left upright.