Cardinals vs. Lions 2015 picks and predictions: Arizona heavily favored in Week 5

The Arizona Cardinals look like one of the toughest teams in the NFL, though after starting the season at 3-0 they dropped a game to the NFC West rival St. Louis Rams in Week 4. It was a game the Cardinals were expected to dominate, but they didn't come close to doing that.

The Rams have been a spoiler team for a few years now, so this just could be a case of a bad game, but the Detroit Lions probably feel better about Sunday's game between the two now that they're not facing an unbeaten team. That has a lot do with the fact that the Lions themselves are winless on the season.

Detroit has fought to close games against multiple teams, losing by five points to the San Diego Chargers and three points to the Seattle Seahawks in their last outing. They were also a pair of scores back of the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos. Detroit's offense simply can't find a way to get going, and against an Arizona defense that's been among the best in the NFL this year, they'll have another tough outing.

The Cardinals have been dominant thus far this year. They took down the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers without issue, putting at least 47 points on each of the latter two teams and scoring 31 against the Saints. Carson Palmer only led the Cardinals to 22 points against the Rams, however. The Lions haven't been great at putting points on the board, but the Cardinals look less threatening now than they did a week ago.

Week 4's loss to the Rams was Carson Palmer's first loss under center in 10 games starting for the Cardinals. He was excellent last season, and the Cardinals have done an excellent job accomplishing their primary task this season: keep Palmer upright and safe. But the Rams did have some success getting to him, and if the Lions want to increase their chances of winning on Sunday then they will also need to find a way to make Palmer uncomfortable.