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Cardinals Soar into Detroit to Face the Lions

By Madalyn Heimann

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After last week’s narrow loss to the St. Louis Rams, the Arizona Cardinals go on the road to face a winless Detroit Lions team.

These two teams know each other very well; they have played each other seven times since 2005 with the Cardinals winning six in a row. The last three games (2012,2013, 2014) have occurred at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

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This year the game will take place in Detroit. Arizona has won six straight matchups, so even when the Cardinals were terrible, they were able to win against the Lions.

The Lions need something to change, and they will be looking to get revenge after losing to Seattle on a controversial no-call. No matter how good the Cardinals are, they are playing a great Lions team.

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For the Arizona Cardinals, it will be imperative that they maintain possession and for the defense to limit the damage that a turnover can cause. The Cardinals are the better team, but it will take a whole team effort for them to come out on top.

The Cardinals are averaging 39 points per game while the Lions have only had 38 combined points in the last three weeks. This will be a match-up of two entirely different offenses.

For Detroit, some say their offense looks like they do not even know their own plays. Normally Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson are clicking by this time in the season, but they have yet to produce. Stafford has five touchdowns and just over 1000 yards while Johnson has just 255 yards and one touchdown.

The Lions offense seems to be the opposite of the Cardinals high-powered offense.

Arizona has an average of 405 yards per game, and Carson Palmer is leading this team down the field, often with ease.

Palmer’s main man this season has been Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has 432 yards and five touchdowns on the season.

This week the Cardinals will have all three running backs healthy. Andre Ellington will be returning this week to be along side Chris Johnson and David Johnson. The six-handed monster will be important in this game, as they can relieve the pressure off Palmer.

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Detroit’s defense will try to pressure the Cardinals quarterback as much as possible, but with more men in the box there is more room for John Brown to hit the turbo and go deep.

The Cardinals played a very tight defensive line with the Rams last week, so this should be a step back for the offensive line. Look for the Cardinals to use a good combination of run and pass play to drive the ball down the field.

For the Cardinals’ defense, it will be about containing the rushing attack, with the Lions only averaging 47 yards per game. If they can hold Detroit to few rushing yards, it could be a long afternoon for Stafford, as he will be facing Tyrann Mathieu, Patrick Peterson and the “No Fly Zone” secondary.

It will be a tough matchup for Stafford.

The match-up of Sunday will be Peterson vs. Johnson. Peterson has been able to hold Johnson to only a few catches in the last few seasons, and he will look to continue that on Sunday.

The Cardinals have an excellent opportunity to beat an already struggling Lions team to get their fourth win of the season.

Based on the skill set the both teams have and the way things are trending for both teams this season, I see Arizona coming out on top; 35-17 Cardinals take their 7th straight win against the Lions.

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