THE STORY: The Cardinals are built to punish the opposition on offense, especially with the run, but it never found those tracks on Sunday.
The offense as a whole suffered. And in the end, so did the scoreboard.
The Cardinals fell to the Detroit Lions, 20-13, at State Farm Stadium. A week after the Cardinals (1-2) had 489 yards of offense, they managed only 275, and the running game was held to 77 yards. Quarterback Kyler Murray was the team’s leading rusher with 45 yards. James Conner finished with 17 yards on nine carries.
The Cardinals were without right tackle Kelvin Beachum, and once fill-in Jackson Barton got hurt, they used fourth-string RT Charlie Heck — who just signed after Week 1.
The defense started slow, giving up TDs on the first two Lions’ drives, but after that were stout and kept the Cardinals in it. Linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. lost a pick-6 at the end of the first half after a controversial call by the officials to stop play for the two-minute warning, and the Lions (2-1) ended up finishing the drive with a TD on a hook-and-lateral right before the half to build the lead they never lost.
The Cardinals may have also suffered a crucial loss on the depth chart, after defensive lineman Justin Jones left the game with a triceps injury.
More to come at azcardinals.com.
