The Lions Had a Dish of Cardinal Stew

By: Jeremy T. Ballreich

Sunday afternoon, the sun was hot in Arizona, but inside the dome where the gridiron for the football contest was to be played, it was comfortable conditions. Until the Detroit Lions brung the heat to the Arizona Cardinals. There was no time wasted in the first half by either team.

Both teams in the first quarter exchanged TDs. Neither offense or defense looked either great or terrible. Seemed like neither defense had their footing yet and both offenses took advantage of it.

Then the 3rd ranked rushing defense in the league (Detroit Lions) made the day miserable for the Cardinals. James Connor was held to 17 yards on 9 carries. That’s one point nine yards a carry. This guy was a top back in the league after 2 weeks. Kyler Murray was their rushing leader with 45 yards. They only had 77 yards as a team rushing.

Offensively:

The Lions could not be stopped, either while passing or running the ball. Sure there were some stalled drives. But when your QB throws for 199 yards, and two Touchdowns. Then the running game gets another 187 on the ground and two touchdowns. This is more of what we’re used to seeing out of Ben Johnson’s ran offense in Detroit. David Montgomery was the leading rusher with 23 carries and 105 yards on the ground with a nice TD to add to his season stats. Jahmyr Gibbs was also effective, 16 carries for 83 yards.

The most electric play in the game was the Hook and Ladder play executed to touchdown perfection. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a pass from Jared Goff. He sees Jahmyr Gibbs with a full set of steam and tosses it back to him. Gibbs split the defense for a 20 yard touchdown scamper.

Defensively:

The Lions defense had 2 terrific plays. One was an interception in the Redzone by Kerby Joseph (wonder if he was wearing that camouflage suit?) The other was by current NFL and team sack leader Aiden Hutchinson. Made a key 3rd down sack to kill a drive in the beginning of the 4th quarter.

Offensive Stars of the Game:

David Montgomery

Jahmyr Gibbs

Amon-Ra St. Brown

Jared Goff

Honorable Mention to Ben Johnson

Defensive Stars of the Game:

Kerby Joseph

Aiden Hutchinson

Brian Branch

Honorable Mention to DJ Reader

Hoping that Levi Onwuzurike and Brian Branch are okay. Both were shaken up in the game.