Detroit Lions again continue to play ‘dirty football’ in week two.
The Arizona Cardinals have won their home opener for the NFL season after pulling out a come-from-behind effort against the Detroit Lions.
The defence for the Cards will receive all of the praise for helping their side hang on for the 25-21 victory, as the Lions made a charge in the second half.
But a gritty five-play series kept Detroit out of the the end-zone and consigned them to their first loss of the season.
Cardinals defence co-coordinator Todd Bowles picked up on the patterns of the Lions in the first half and made the changes needed at half time, while thankfully for the home side, the Lions did not change a thing.
As a result Detroit only made 13 yards in the third quarter, stifling their comeback.
“If they were incomplete on first down, they were coming back running on second and pretty much stayed true [to that] the whole game,” safety Yeremiah Bell said.
“Once we got there we just kind of hunkered down and kinda knew what they were going to do from there.”
Despite the Cards defence, the Lions will feel that were their own worst enemies as they again continued to give away silly penalties at the worst possible times.
The Lions were penalised eight times for a loss of 101 yards, and in the context of a game they lost by only four, it could be argued they threw away victory as much as Arizona saved it.
Lions quarterback Matt Stafford, who threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns, expressed his frustration about his team’s lack of discipline at key moments in games
“It’s something that we work on. It’s something that we talk about,” Stafford said.
“We just keep working on it. We’re making a concerted effort to try and play cleaner football this year.
“I don’t know. Maybe asking them to quit throwing flags on us. I don’t know.”
The Lions will get a chance to redeem themselves when they take on Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins (0-2) in week three.
Arizona will have a tough task of making it two wins from as many games as they travel to take on Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints (2-0).
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