Detroit Lions Come Up Short in the Desert; Cardinals Win 14-6

The Detroit Lions players, coaches, and fans knew the implications of Sundays match up with the Arizona Cardinals going into the game. The winner would be atop the NFC standings with the post season approaching, and both teams entered the game red-hot. The Lions entered the game winners of four straight, but would come up just a little short, losing by a final score of 14-6.

14. 32. 6. 50. Final

The game started out fast, but wound up a defensive battle in the end. Former Detroit Lions back up quarterback and Farmington Hills, Michigan native, Drew Stanton got the start for the Cardinals in place of an injured Carson Palmer. Stanton came out of the gate strong, throwing touchdown passes on the teams first two drives, both to Michael Floyd.

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The Cardinals went up 14-0 in the first quarter, and the Lions were only able to muster a disappointing six points all game long. The Cardinals entered the contest ranked No.1 in the NFL in takeaways, but 30th in total pass defense, yet Matthew Stafford was unable to make much of anything happen throughout the game, despite having both Golden Tate and Calvin Johnson on the field.

The one silver lining for the Detroit Lions would be the solid, hard-nosed running from Joique Bell against a tough Cardinals defense. Bell finished the day with 15 carries for 85 yards.

The Lions looked poised to make another magnificent fourth quarter comeback, but he reversal of an officials’ call early in the fourth played a big role in the game. An eventual 12 yard pass from Stanton to Larry Fitzgerald would wrap things up for Arizona.

Stafford would finish the day 18 of 30 for 183 yards with one interception. He also set the NFL record as the youngest player to reach 20,000 passing yards.

Stafford finds Tate to move the chains and becomes the quickest QB in @NFL history to reach 20,000 career passing yds
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 16, 2014

Stanton would finish 21 of 32 for 306 yards with two touchdowns as well as two interceptions, and would also improve to 3-1 as a starter.

Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Calvin Johnson ended up with just five catches for 59 yards, only one for 4 yards in the first half.

Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson stated prior to the game that he was up for the challenge of covering Johnson, and he did a great job of shadowing Megatron all game long.

Golden Tate ended the day with just two catches for 41 yards.

It’s easy to place the blame of this loss on some questionable officiating and a couple of bad spots at crucial times, but the fact of the matter is that the Lions simply couldn’t get things going on offense. The offensive line knew the challenge coming in and were unable to rise to the occasion.

Not to mention Johnson and Tate managing a combined 100 yards through the air. The reality is that kicking field goals is not enough to go on the road and win.

No excuses by the #Lions offensive players in the locker room. Every one says that unit has to play better.
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) November 17, 2014