There were more than a few Cardinals moving around slowly in the locker room Sunday, and it wasn’t because they were angry. It was just the game. All week the conversation was about how physical both the Cardinals and Lions play, and it looked that way.
How many times did a player go down after a play? The cart got some use for the Lions, and that last collision between Trey McBride and Lions safety Brian Branch was harsh. Guys got hurt, and guys got beat up on both sides. But that’s how the Cardinals want to play. The problem was that they couldn’t create enough creases for the run game – and James Conner in particular – to get through.
The Cardinals are so good running the ball. Even coach Jonathan Gannon acknowledged, “yeah I am” when I asked him if he was surprised the ground game faced such tough sledding.
But this loss feels a lot like the one in Buffalo, and what I mean by that is that it’s going to look a little better after a little time and some emotion passes. I expect the Bills and Lions to both be factors in their conference for a Super Bowl berth. Close losses aren’t enough if there are too many of them, but let’s see how this evolves. I know this: the defense does look to be better than predictions expected. And I don’t see this offense playing like it did Sunday too often.
— What happens at right tackle? The soonest Jonah Williams can return is Week 6 in Green Bay. We will see how Kelvin Beachum’s hamstring is, but it was bad enough to sit him. Jackson Barton held up decently Sunday before his toe issue late – Aiden Hutchinson’s lone sack came when he lined up across Paris Johnson Jr.
“I just knew every play, I needed to make it my best rep,” Barton said.
“He battled in there,” Gannon said. “He didn’t want to come out of the game when I went out when he was down. He’s a true pro.”
Does the toe keep Barton down is the question. Veteran Charlie Heck, fourth on the depth chart, had to finish the game.
— Kyler Murray wasn’t happy with his first interception of the season. It came on the opening drive of the second half, the score 20-10, and the Cards facing a second-and-3 at the Detroit 36. Murray tried a jump ball to Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end zone, but the ball was slightly underthrown and picked off by Kerby Joseph.
“Probably not the right time to be doing that, but it is what is,” Murray said. “I trust my guys.”
— Harrison ended up with a game-high 11 targets, but only five were completions for 64 yards and a TD. Murray looked for him often and there were close calls – Terrion Arnold broke up what looked like a TD pass right before halftime – but not enough production in the end.
— The Mack Wilson pick-6 that wasn’t ended up hurting perception, but if the officials were blowing the whistle and no one could hear it, it didn’t matter. And the Cards know they have to stop that next third down run of 14 when the Lions needed 12. That last TD never should’ve happened. (Although to see a tweet from all-time Lions great receiver Herman Moore saying it should’ve counted …)
— Because Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs didn’t have an official reception, it’s kind of funny – thanks to the hook-and-lateral – to see a guy with a receiving TD and 20 yards receiving but a big ol’ doughnut in the catches column.
— The Cardinals have been pretty healthy, but to see defensive linemen Justin Jones and Khyiris Tonga both banged up, and yet another right tackle, and tight end Trey McBride getting a concussion check, that’s rough. It follows though given how physical the game was.
— Cardinals kicker Matt Prater’s extra point on the team’s touchdown to open the game was the 1,800th of his career. He’s the lone active player to reach that milestone.
— Suns guard and Olympic gold medalist Devin Booker was on hand. (We won’t talk about, with Michigan roots, that he leans toward the Lions.)
Speaking of the Suns, the Cardinals noted the passing of longtime Suns play-by-play voice Al McCoy, who died at the age of 91 over the weekend. Cardinals play-by-play man Dave Pasch delivered McCoy’s patented “Shazam!” as a punctuation to the Cardinals’ first touchdown Sunday, Marvin Harrison Jr.’s catch.
— As someone who moved to Arizona back in 1976 as a young kid, McCoy (along with Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, since there weren’t Diamondbacks when I was growing up) was the soundtrack to my youth. TV sports weren’t quite what they are now, and I listened to both guys on KTAR in my room, picturing the games in my mind.
— The Cardinals didn’t get done what they wanted to offensively, but they were excellent on their first drive, scoring a TD on their first possession for the third time in three games. The last time the Cardinals scored on their first drive in three straight games? You have to go back to 2006 – Denny Green’s last season – when they did it Weeks 12-14.
— The last word goes to wide receiver Michael Wilson, who acknowledged a loss that didn’t have to be.
“Everything in the game of football matters more,” he said. “It’s magnified. It’s one of the few sports where you train exponentially more than you play games. … every target, every block means more because you’ll only get so many guaranteed opportunities to perform. We just didn’t do a good enough job as an offensive unit to give us a chance to win.”
