Detroit Lions vs. Arizona Cardinals: Full Report Card Grades for Arizona
On a day when former Arizona Cardinals cornerback Aeneas Williams received his Hall of Fame ring at halftime, it seems fitting the secondary would be one of the biggest stories of the game. Todd Bowles' unit played a superb four quarters and all but eliminated wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate.
Together, the two managed just seven receptions for 100 yards (14.3 yards per catch). Tate was targeted only twice and wasn't looked at once after the break. Quarterback Matthew Stafford targeted Johnson 12 times. For the game, Stafford completed 18 of 30 passes (60.0 percent) for 183 yards, no touchdowns and an interception for a 63.6 passer rating. The Cardinals sacked him four times.
On offense, it was a tale of two teams—both residing on the same sideline.
Head coach Bruce Arians' offense was brilliant to open the game, marching down the field and putting up two touchdowns on their first two drives. Drew Stanton completed six of his first eight passes, including two touchdowns to receiver Michael Floyd, en route to building an early 14-0 lead.
But the wheels came off from there. Stanton completed 21 of 32 passes (65.6 percent) for 306 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for a 91.4 rating. His picks were two of the worst throws we've seen from a Cardinals quarterback in quite some time—going back to the Ken Whisenhunt era.
The running game looked like it would get going early, but Detroit's defense buckled down and limited running back Andre Ellington most of the afternoon.
It was another ugly win, but guess what? The key word in that sentence is "win." That's all that matters. As long as the end result is another check mark in the win column, it doesn't really matter how the team got there.
How did each Cardinals positional unit fare in Sunday’s win over the Lions? Let’s find out.
Quarterback
1 of 10
The overall stats look great: two touchdowns, 300-plus yards passing and he completed over 65 percent of his passes. But the reality is that Stanton left a lot of yards and points out there on Sunday.
His hot start could be attributed to the ultra-aggressive play-calling from Arians, having deep shots available to the quarterback early and often. Stanton is not afraid to throw it deep, and he did, both early and late.
If not for some inaccuracy throughout, Stanton may have destroyed the No. 1 defense in the NFL. Instead, he helped keep the Lions in the game down to Stafford's final drive with only a few minutes remaining.
Overall, Stanton was solid. You like to see the fast start, but you also want to see a strong finish. He was unable to do that. While it did not come back to bite him and the Cardinals because the defense stepped up, you can't expect the same weekly from here on out.
Other teams may take advantage of so many late opportunities to come back. Because of the defense, the two horribly thrown passes that turned into interceptions did not hurt—just one field goal came of the turnovers.
Grade: C
Running Back
2 of 10
Another tough day for Ellington and the run game. It started out promising, as his second carry netted the offense 17 yards. But after that, it was a massive struggle.
Other than the 17-yard tote, Ellington carried 18 times for 25 yards (1.4 yards per carry). You don't need to ask someone to figure out that's not good.
The interior offensive line should take most of the blame once again, because the unit was unable to get any push up front all day. Ellington didn't have anywhere to go on many of his carries, which has to be frustrating considering all he needs is about a foot of space to make something happen.
Arizona's screen game got going with Ellington a bit against the Lions. He did not break any huge gains off screen passes, but it was nice to see even moderate gains out of an aspect of the offense with which the Cardinals perennially struggle.
Overall, it was an uninspired day for Ellington. He had little impact on the game, so that's going to hurt the grade.
Grade: D
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Floyd didn't have a reception after the 6:06 mark of the first quarter, but it didn't matter—his impact had been felt by the Lions. He finished with two receptions for 54 yards (27.0 YPC), with both catches giving the Cardinals the only points they would need to beat Detroit.
Rookie John Brown led the way with five receptions for 69 yards (13.8 YPC), out-receiving two future Hall of Famers in Larry Fitzgerald and Lions star Calvin Johnson. Brown's third-down prowess showed up again on Sunday, as the young speedster converted three of Arizona's eight third downs.
Believe it or not, the tight ends played a role in the offense on Sunday. John Carlson had three receptions for 37 yards, rookie tight end Troy Niklas had one for five yards and Rob Housler added a 27-yard tight end screen on the first play of the fourth quarter.
One area in which the tight ends have really struggled this season—among others—is in blocking. That was no different on Sunday, as a couple of Ellington's rushes could have netted much more yardage but did not because of faulty blocks.
Grade: C+
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
We got two completely different results for the offensive line against the Lions. Run blocking was atrocious once again, but the unit was superb in protecting Stanton.
The line gave its quarterback time to throw most of the afternoon. If not for some ill-timed inaccuracy, this game may have been over in the third quarter. Stanton had time; all he had to do was find the open receiver.
That run blocking, though.
From left guard to right guard, the run blocking was despicable. Detroit's defensive tackles lived in the backfield on run plays, leaving Ellington with no room to run. Of his 19 carries against the Lions, a gaudy 13 of them (68.4 percent) resulted in gains of two yards or fewer. Eight gained zero or negative yardage.
We're going multiple grades here for the first time this season. It's time to separate the grades and point out where the line is doing well and where it's struggling—as though it's not painfully obvious already.
Run Blocking: F
Pass Blocking: B
Overall Grade: C-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The script flipped this week for the defensive line. Usually, you read about how dominant it was in the run game and how much it struggled creating pressure on the opposing quarterback.
Against the Lions, the defensive line recorded a sack (Frostee Rucker) and five quarterback hits (Tommy Kelly had three, Dan Williams had one and Rucker had one) but allowed 5.0 yards per carry to running backs.
Joique Bell carried 14 times for 85 yards (6.1 YPC), and much of that was because of gaping holes along the defensive front. A couple of key missed tackles didn't help matters, either.
We can't be too hard on the line, because it's played wonderful football all season. The unit has earned an allowance this season, and it used it against Detroit. The big thing is that win. Had Bell run all over the defense and the Lions beaten the Cardinals, things would likely be a bit harrier in this section.
Grade: B-
Linebacker
6 of 10
There were a few times where linebackers were out of position on run plays, which contributed to some lanes being open. Other times, they were in the right place, at the right time. Inside linebacker Larry Foote was big once again in stopping plays, recording six solo tackles, including one for a loss.
Two of the team's four sacks came from the linebacking corps. For the second time this season, outside linebacker Alex Okafor recorded two sacks in a game, giving him five on the season. You may want to pay attention later this week, however, as Okafor's first sack may be changed to a tackle for loss by the league.
He was in the area and took down Stafford after the quarterback may have tucked the ball to run. We'll see what happens.
Outside 'backer Sam Acho didn't make a consistent impact on the game, but he did make one big play late in the game when he brought down Bell in the backfield for a loss. Did he trip Bell, as some have speculated? That's to be determined, but it appeared as though Acho fell and, in reaching for Bell, may have accidentally tripped him.
Grade: A-
Secondary
7 of 10The Cardinals held Stafford under 200 yards passing and did not allow a touchdown through the air. It's only the third time in his career he has attempted at least 20 passes and failed to top 200 yards while not throwing a touchdown.
Stafford is 0-3 in those games.
The pass rush was a part of that. The defensive line and linebackers did a great job of getting to him and throwing off the timing of the passing game. But the secondary was the other major part of that.
Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie were masterful in shutting down Johnson and Tate. Nickel cornerback Jerraud Powers played a part in that as well, as he drew the assignment of covering anyone lined up in the slot—sometimes, that meant either Johnson or Tate.
Everyone across the board played well on the back end. Free safety Rashad Johnson picked off Stafford in the third quarter, ending a drive that had just crossed midfield. Defensive back Tyrann Mathieu made a couple of solid plays, including knocking the ball away from running back Theo Riddick the play before Johnson's interception.
Overall, this may have been the best performance of the season from the Cardinals secondary. Can't say enough about what the unit meant to Sunday's victory.
Grade: A+
Special Teams
8 of 10
The only play of note on special teams against the Lions came at a critical moment of the game. Punter Drew Butler attempted to pin Detroit inside its own 10-yard line, and when special teams ace Justin Bethel appeared to bat the ball from the 1-yard line to teammates so they could down the ball, receiver Jeremy Ross picked it up and ran it all the way back to the Arizona 45.
But Arians challenged that Bethel did not actually bat the ball but that he had possessed it and passed it forward toward his teammates.
He won, and Detroit was awarded the ball at its own 1-yard line.
A 10-play, 52-yard drive that consumed over five minutes off the fourth-quarter clock ensued, so while we will never know for sure, it could be speculated that play saved the Cardinals from allowing at least a field goal.
Grade: B+
Coaching
9 of 10
It's not for a lack of trying, because Arians gave Ellington 19 carries. The run-game woes are mostly on the offensive line, which is why it received an "F" for run blocking this week.
Arians can only call the plays; it's up to his players to execute. And this season, the offensive line has not answered the call when run blocking.
As for the passing game: Stanton had opportunities all afternoon to hit open receivers over the middle and extend drives. But repeatedly, it seemed he would force the ball deep to a covered receiver.
It could be that the early success in the downfield passing attack with Floyd made Stanton's eyes too big for his stomach. Whatever the cause, the effect was Stanton biting off more than he could chew a few times.
Defensively, there isn't much negative to say about how Bowles called the game. In fact, it's taking too long to nitpick at something, so we'll say he pitched a perfect game...for now.
Grade: A
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | D |
| WR | C+ |
| OL | C- |
| DL | B+ |
| LB | A- |
| Secondary | A+ |
| Special Teams | B+ |
| Coaching | A |
| Cumulative Grade | B+ |
For all the talk this week about how Stanton would perform against the top defense in the NFL, the attention should have been on how his own defense would perform against Stafford and Co. While Detroit will still have the No. 1 defense in terms of points allowed per game, it's hard to argue there is a better defense than Arizona's right now.
Offensively, there are some issues to work out. But as long as the team is winning football games, those issues are not as big of a deal as they would be if the team were losing games.
The only thing that matters is the Cardinals are 9-1 and hold a three-game lead in the NFC West with six games to play. A huge game in Seattle is on the horizon, and an offensive performance like the one against the Lions may not be enough to beat a division rival in the Seahawks.
But that's for another column. Go Cards.
All stats gathered from ESPN.com and Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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