Preview: Arizona at Detroit
When: 4:05 PM ET, Sunday, October 11, 2015
Where: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
The Detroit Lions came within inches of a rare offensive touchdown before suffering some referee-induced heartbreak last week, but the team already is turning the page. The Lions’ offense faces another tough test on Sunday, when the Arizona Cardinals visit and try to bounce back from their own tough loss.
Calvin Johnson reached out for the goal line, only to have the ball knocked from his hands and subsequently batted out of the back of the end zone by a Seattle defender – an infraction that should have given Detroit the ball back inside the 1-yard line with a chance to win. Instead, the referees gave possession to the Seahawks on a touchback, and the Lions went on to suffer a 13-10 loss that dropped them to 0-4. a1serviceplays.com “Now, you can take that situation and drag it out through the week with your players more focused in on that particular play than the opposition that we have to face in just a few days in a very, very good Arizona team,” Detroit coach Jim Caldwell told reporters. “Or you can act ‘woe is me’ and ‘bad call’ and ‘that went against us’ and look at all those kinds of things and that can distract you, you’ll get your ears kicked in come Sunday afternoon.” The Cardinals averaged 42 points in winning their first three games before three turnovers contributed to a 24-22 loss to St. Louis in Week 4.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Cardinals –2.5. O/U: 44
ABOUT THE CARDINALS (3-1): Arizona expects to be one of the teams fighting for the NFC title at the end of the season and knows it can’t afford back-to-back losses, and it won’t take an 0-4 opponent lightly. “This is a time for your leadership to stand up,” coach Bruce Arians told reporters. “If you have really good leadership, you won’t lose two in a row.” At the top of that leadership board is quarterback Carson Palmer, who passed for 352 yards against St. Louis but failed to throw multiple touchdown passes for the first time this season.
ABOUT THE LIONS (0-4): Johnson’s near-TD late in the Seattle loss would have been the type of big offensive play for which Detroit has been searching this season. “Well, we need some big plays, there’s no question about that,” Caldwell told reporters. “We’ll take them any way we can get them. We’ll take a 3-yard pass that turns into an 80-yard run. We’ll take them any way we can get them in that regard, and that’s one of the things that we have to do. We have to have some chunks along the way.” Johnson and No. 2 wide receiver Golden Tate have only one touchdown between them on the season.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Lions LB DeAndre Levy (hip) was a full participant at practice on Wednesday and could make his season debut this week.
2. Palmer is 16-3 in his last 19 starts.
3. Arizona has taken six straight in the series, including a 14-6 home win on Nov. 16, 2014.
PREDICTION: Cardinals 31, Lions 17