The Detroit Lions and the NFL's top defense traveled to Glendale to take on backup quarterback Drew Stanton and the 8-1 Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but it was the Arizona defense that stole the show in the Cardinals' 14-6 win. With the win, Arizona took control of the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Lions vs Cardinals 2014 final score: 3 things we learned from Arizona’s 14-6 win
The Cardinals shut down Matthew Stafford and Megatron to improve to 9-1 for the first time since 1948.
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Here’s what we learned.
1. The Cardinals’ defense is for real.
The Cardinals knew that they'd have to rely on their defense after losing quarterback Carson Palmer to a torn ACL last week against the St. Louis Rams. Their defense responded by playing one of its best games of the season, allowing just 262 yards of total offense and limiting Matthew Stafford to 183 passing yards. The Lions were coming off three straight comeback victories -- including a wild win at home last week against the Miami Dolphins -- but the Cardinals scored two early touchdowns while the defense kept the Lions out of the end zone.
2. The Lions’ offense showed up late. The defense barely showed up at all.
Lions running back Joique Bell hurdled a guy.
That was about the only offensive highlight for the Lions. Stafford's numbers weren't much, but a good chunk of that yardage came late in the fourth quarter. Calvin Johnson struggled to muster anything, finishing with five catches for 59 yards. Arizona's defense kept up the pressure on Stafford, with Alex Okafor sacking the quarterback twice. Detroit struggled to get much of anything going with only a couple of big plays all day.
And the normally stout Detroit defense wasn't much help, especially in the first quarter. The Lions allowed Arizona to go up by two touchdowns in the first 10 minutes. The issue was an old one for the Lions: penalties. The Lions had four penalties with more than eight minutes left in the first quarter, including a defensive pass interference penalty on a Michael Floyd touchdown. Detroit finished with 80 yards of penalties on the day.
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3. Drew Stanton might be enough for the Cardinals.
Losing Palmer was huge for the Cardinals, but Stanton played well, completing 21 of 32 for 306 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Arizona's receiving core had a big day, with seven players tallying at least 20 yards receiving. John Brown led the way with 69 yards through the air. However, the points stopped after the first quarter when the Lions defense was able to keep the Cardinals out of scoring range, and Stanton was under pressure on third down consistently. But, with the Lions' offense notably absent, the Cardinals didn't need to be too worried.
Stanton played well against the NFL's top defense, but he'll have big challenges coming up with a trip to Seattle and games against the Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs.
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