Remember a year ago, when the Lions were a playoff team? Yeah, things can change pretty fast in the NFL.
The Lions turned in an absolutely embarrassing effort in Arizona on Sunday, getting blown out by a Cardinals team that entered the game on a nine-game losing streak and had just been destroyed 58-0 last week. This week, the Cardinals beat the Lions 38-10.
Although the Cardinals’ passing game was as bad as usual, with quarterback Ryan Lindley passing for just 104 yards and throwing an interception, the Cardinals got three touchdown runs from Beanie Wells on the way to an easy win.
And the Cardinals’ defense roughed up Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford all day. Stafford had a terrible game, with three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. On Greg Toler’s 102-yard interception return for a touchdown that sealed the Cardinals’ victory in the fourth quarter, Stafford never even looked in Calvin Johnson’s direction, even though Johnson had single coverage in the end zone.
It has to be getting frustrating for Johnson to be the one good player on an otherwise miserable team. Johnson had 10 catches for 121 yards and remains on pace to break Jerry Rice’s NFL record of 1,848 receiving yards in a season, but how much does that mean when the Lions are 4-10? This team is going nowhere.
The Cardinals aren’t going anywhere, either, but say this for Arizona: Their defense turned in a hard-hitting effort, and Wells came to play on offense. Ken Whisenhunt’s guys looked like they wanted to be out there today. With the exception of Megatron, Jim Schwartz’s guys looked like they didn’t care.