The Detroit Lions fell to 1-1 on the season after a 25-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Lions vs. Cardinals 2013: Arizona win draws positive reaction from fans
The Cardinals picked up their first win of the season after a second straight solid performance.
Jennifer Hilderbrand-USA TODAY S
The Cardinals played solid defense and did enough on offense to get the win. Detroit made plenty of mistakes that helped Arizona along the way, but that didn’t stop the folks at Revenge of the Birds from finding some encouraging signs in the Week 2 win.
The Cardinals showed some trick plays and impressive chops to navigate a comeback against a much improved Detroit Lions team. Even better after falling short against the Rams, the Cards actually stepped up in the fourth quarter. Time to look at what factors helped propel the team to victory.
Lions fans weren’t so fired up about Sunday’s game. Detroit came out of the game with a few injuries and once again took far too many penalties that allowed the Cardinals to extend drives. The Lions obviously have a lot of talent on both sides of the football, but discipline is a major issue for this team. The folks at Pride of Detroit had this to say about the issue.
This goes without saying at this point, but the Lions have to be smarter about penalties. They had 8 for 101 yards against the Cardinals, and there were some really costly ones. Willie Young’s illegal hands to the face penalty wiped a fumble recovery off the board in the second half, and Bill Bentley’s pass interference penalty before Arizona’s game-winning touchdown was laughably bad. It’s not even a case of taking dumb personal fouls anymore; it’s just bad football in key moments. The Lions can only afford to shoot themselves in the foot so many times before their sloppiness comes back to bite them, and it bit them hard in Arizona.
More from SB Nation NFL:
See More:
