Detroit’s Domination Over the Cardinals
The Lions always seem to find a way to destroy the Arizona Cardinals. According to ESPN, since 2017, the Detroit Lions have never lost to the Cardinals. That stat line did not change on Sunday. After Sunday, the Detroit Lions are now 5-0-1 against the Cardinals since 2017. That year was a much different time. To put that truly into perspective, Carson Palmer was the starting quarterback for the Cardinals in 2017. He retired in 2018. Matthew Stafford was the starter for the Detroit Lions and now he is starting for the Los Angeles Rams. Things really do change. However, the Detroit Lions’ dominance over the Cardinals has not. If the Cardinals want to start winning against the Lions, then they need to quit turning the ball over so often.
2017 Matchup
In the opening minutes of the game, Carson Palmer threw an interception to Tavon Wilson, who took the ball inside the Cardinals’ 25-yard line. Then, Matthew Stafford threw a pick-six to the Cardinals almost immediately. The Cardinals continued scoring and were up 10-0. Then, Carson Palmer threw another interception to Glover Quin that he took to the Cardinals’ 44-yard line. Matthew Stafford took advantage of this and found Marvin Jones Jr. for a touchdown. The score was now 10-6. Then, the Lions scored a field goal. The score was 10-9. Then, the Arizona Cardinals ran the ball down the field and into the endzone. The score was now 17-9. The Cardinals got the ball again. David Johnson fumbled and the ball was taken to the Cardinals’ 10-yard line. Theo Riddick then caught a pass from Stafford and scored a touchdown. The score was 17-15. Then, Matthew Stafford and Kenny Golladay took over. First, he passed it to him in the red zone on a corner route for a touchdown. The score was now 17-21. Then again on a deep pass from the 50-yard line, he threw another touchdown to Golladay. The score was now 17-27. From there, Carson Palmer threw a pick-six and the game was basically over. The score ended 23-35.
2020 Matchup
The 2020 matchup was interesting because both the Cardinals and the Lions were not very good. The Detroit Lions had just come off one of the worst seasons in history, going 3-12-1. The Cardinals were coming off a 5-10-1 season. This game was an offensive shootout between Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray, matching each other's score 23-23 until the last four minutes of the game. With one minute and seven seconds left, Matthew Stafford passed it to Kenny Golladay up the left for a short gain. Then, they were near field goal range. Stafford threw it to Marvin Jones Jr. and he shook off a defender and sealed the game for Detroit. They then kicked the field goal and beat the Cardinals 26-23. The Cardinals seemed to be the more talented team but they could not stop making mistakes. Kyler Murray threw three interceptions. Even a quarterback as talented as him could not come back from something like that.
2024 Matchup
The 2024 Detroit Lions have been one of the best teams in recent years, just coming off of an NFC Championship appearance and a division title. The Cardinals have been mediocre at best, missing the playoffs in recent years. In this matchup, the Lions came out firing on offense. The Cardinals’ defense did not seem to have answers. According to ESPN, Jared Goff brought the ball down the field and handed it off to David Montgomery for the first touchdown. Then, Kyler Murray marched down the field with an equalizer. He threw a touchdown to Marvin Harrison Jr. However, the Lions went down the field again and Amon-Ra St. Brown caught the second touchdown from Jared Goff. The Cardinals’ defense still could not answer. The score was now 13-7. The Detroit Lions’ defense got a stop and the Lions completed one of the most well-executed hook and ladder plays in history to make the score 20-7. The Cardinals marched down the field and scored one more field goal before half which made the score 20-10. However, when the Cardinals came back out after half time. They still could not get anything rolling on offense. The only time they did get into field goal range they were intercepted by Kerby Joseph. They were never in field goal range again until there was 3:48 left in the fourth quarter and they took a field goal. Both the defense and the offense could not get anything going on the Cardinals’ side and they ended up falling 20-13.
What This Means
The Lions always seem to find a way to destroy the Cardinals. The Detroit Lions are now 5-0-1 against the Arizona Cardinals since 2017. That’s something to be proud of. A lot has changed since 2017. The Lions’ dominance over the Cardinals has not though. The common denominator in all the losses for the Cardinals is that in all of these games, they turned the ball over too many times. If the Cardinals are going to destroy the Lions, then the Cardinals need to learn how to take care of the ball.
