What We Learned About The Lions: Detroit’s defense finally showed up in Arizona, Jared Goff rolled, and one problem still won’t go away
Detroit looked completely lost for another first quarter before everything flipped. The defense dominated, Goff kept rolling and the Lions delivered exactly the response they needed before the bye.
The sky had truly fallen for the Detroit Lions after that Sunday Night Football loss to the Carolina Panthers. It was thought that the Lions could beat the Arizona Cardinals, but I don’t think anyone had them going into the desert and routing them and putting up a 40-burger. What a response from everyone.
You have to be impressed with the Lions’ defense
Look, I know that some Lions fans are going to just say, “It was the Cardinals,” but that’s not really an accurate thing. This Cardinals offense is the 12th-ranked offense in DVOA. They’re not bad at all. This Cardinals offense has been putting up some numbers.
The Lions went out there and forced five straight punts, forced a turnover, got a sack on fourth down, and had four other sacks to go with it. The Lions’ defense looked like the defense I saw at training camp for the first time. I don’t know where it goes from here, but I do know that if it continues to look like this, good things are coming for the Lions in 2026.
The even better news is that they should get Brian Branch back against the Packers after the bye, and they still should be expected to make a trade to bolster their cornerback room. If they do that, the sky could be the limit.
Goff Report
Goff has been playing really well all season, but this was his best game so far. He balled out in this one, going 19-for-31 for 271 yards and three passing touchdowns. He also ran for another touchdown on the goal line. If he keeps playing this way, the Lions’ offense can do whatever it wants all year long.
Who was that team in the first quarter?
In the first quarter, the Lions looked completely inept, and it looked like we were about to go down the rabbit hole of how bad things could get. The Lions had -9 total yards of offense when the quarter ended.
But at least the defense looked a little better. Then the Lions came out in the second quarter and put up 195 total yards and 24 points, while their defense forced five punts in a row and forced a turnover.
But it’s notable that the first-quarter stuff continued
The Lions have not scored a first-quarter touchdown since Week 1. Granted, that’s not historically bad or anything. It’s bad, and you can’t keep letting it happen.
That second quarter was a revelation, and we even got to see Drew Petzing get in his bag a little with trick plays, but you have to stop with the slow starts, and it has to happen sooner rather than later. When you face really good teams, you need points on the board as soon as possible.
The NFL robbed us of a viral Penei Sewell touchdown run
Jahmyr had a crazy little fumble that wasn’t actually a fumble because his forward progress had been stopped and the play was blown dead.
The fumble flew in the air and into Penei Sewell’s hands, and he tucked that thing and was about to take it 50 yards to the house. I don’t remember where they were on the field, but 50 yards makes the story better. Hell or high water, he was going.
Then the crooked NFL — again, Gibbs had been ruled down before the ball came out, but acting as if the NFL did something nefarious is more fun — took it away from him.
Tom Kennedy going down brings up some questions
Kennedy went down with an injury in the second quarter and was ruled out for the rest of the game. He’s the Lions’ punt returner out there, and I don’t know what their plan is going forward, but I know it can’t be Amon-Ra St. Brown. That’s just too risky for a player who is so important to this team.
What makes sense is that this might be where Dominic Lovett gets his call-up. Of course, it’s all going to depend on what Kennedy’s injury is and if he even misses time. It’s good for the Lions to have an extra week to think about it.
The Lions need to queue up the film on this play
The moment Cardinals tight end Teagan Quitoriano caught this ball in the end zone, I had déjà vu. I had déjà vu because this was literally the same play the Lions allowed a touchdown to the same tight end in the first quarter.
For all the tight end issues the Lions’ defense has, this one is worth bringing up at the team meetings ahead of playing against Tucker Kraft and the Packers in Week 7.
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