Lions 45, Cardinals 21: The Bounce-Back Win the Season Needed

The Lions got the bounce-back win they needed in Glendale. Coming into Week 5, there were big question marks over defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard. There were also bigger questions about whether this team could compete for a Super Bowl, or even reach the playoffs. A 45-21 win in Arizona doesn’t settle all of that, but it’s a hell of a start on the answers.

A familiar slow start

The first quarter looked a lot like the Panthers game. The offense went three-and-out on its first three possessions, finishing the quarter with negative yardage and no first downs. Goff was sacked three times in that stretch. Former Lion Roy Lopez was part of the Arizona pressure up front. Meanwhile, the Cardinals marched 73 yards in 14 plays for the opening touchdown. The drive included a fourth-and-1 trick play, with Michael Wilson taking a reverse and throwing to Jacoby Brissett. Brissett then found Teagan Quitoriano from two yards out.

Things looked bleak. Then it was all Lions.

Seven straight scoring drives

From 7-0 down, Detroit scored 31 unanswered points and finished with six touchdowns and a 46-yard Jake Bates field goal across seven consecutive scoring drives. The defense matched it. After the opening touchdown, Arizona went three-and-out on five straight possessions, and the half ended with an interception.

The offense also woke up through fourth-down aggression, and it’s worth spelling out how much of the game turned on those calls. The Lions went 4-for-4 on fourth down:

• 4th & 3: Goff found Sam LaPorta across the middle for 12 yards, with 15 more tacked on for a late hit. Jahmyr Gibbs scored from a yard out three plays later.
• 4th & 1: Detroit faked the handoff to Gibbs, and LaPorta was wide open for a 38-yard touchdown.
• 4th & 4: Goff hit Jameson Williams on an over route for an 8-yard touchdown.
• 4th & goal: Goff sneaked it in from a yard out.

Dan Campbell talked afterwards about pushing “your chips all the way in”, and the players responded.

Goff and Gibbs lead the way

Goff finished 19-of-30 for 271 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, a 125.8 passer rating, plus the sneak. He’s now thrown 12 touchdowns and no picks through five games. The best throws were the 39-yard touchdown to Williams, a perfectly placed ball down the right side, and a 36-yard deep-left completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Williams caught only two passes, but both were touchdowns, the first multi-touchdown game of his career. LaPorta added five catches for 88 yards and a score, and PFF graded him the second-best offensive player on the team.

Gibbs was electric once he got going. He had just five yards on two carries in the first quarter, then finished with 151 yards on 25 carries (6.0 a pop) and two touchdowns, plus five catches for 56. That’s 207 all-purpose yards. His 85.3 PFF receiving grade was the best on the offense. The two touchdowns also pushed him past Barry Sanders for the most touchdowns by a player before his 25th birthday in NFL history.

The offensive line was excellent apart from that rough first quarter. After those three early sacks, Goff wasn’t taken down again. Penei Sewell was the top-graded player on the offense at 94.3 (93.4 as a run blocker), and Christian Mahogany was third at 77.0. The team ran for 163 yards. Notably, in all three Lions wins this season they’ve rushed for 130-plus yards, and in the two losses they were held to 66 and 46.

A completely changed defense

This was a different defense. Detroit came in allowing 31.8 points per game, 31st in the NFL. Here, the coverage was sticky, the run defense was aggressive and the pass rush showed up. The Lions had five sacks (two from DJ Wonnum) and 12 quarterback hits, and PFF charged them with 16 total pressures. That takes them to 20 sacks on the season, the most through five games in franchise history.

Keith Abney made his first start at safety and looked natural, ending the first half with his first career interception on a deep shot. Devin White left in the first quarter with a forearm injury. Campbell said he’ll likely need surgery and miss extended time. Malcolm Rodriguez deputised well, adding half a sack and a 66.8 PFF grade, though he was beaten by Quitoriano for the opening score. Alim McNeill (80.7), DJ Reed (80.0) and Jack Campbell (79.3) were the top-graded defenders.

Roger McCreary was the bellwether of the whole unit. He had three pass breakups by PFF’s count, and the run defense from him was strong (79.6 grade). But he was also targeted 18 times and gave up nine catches for 147 yards, which is where the coverage busts came from. That’s the story of the defense in miniature: a big uptick, with a few things still to clean up. Arizona went 8-for-18 on third down, and Brissett finished with 292 yards and three touchdowns on 47 attempts, two of them late with the game already decided.

Special teams and the bye

Bates stayed perfect (one field goal and six extra points), and Jack Fox averaged 50.0 on four punts, including a 65-yarder downed at the Arizona 2. Sione Vaki had the top special teams grade at 75.6. Tom Kennedy left with a knee injury after a punt return.

We wanted to go into the bye with an answer at defensive coordinator. Either Kelvin was clearly not up to it, with no signs of life and we could move on, or the defense would show viable signs of life and improvement we could build on. It was emphatically the latter. Now we enter the bye with time to work on how to improve before Green Bay visits Ford Field on October 25.