Lions adapt to injury, game-plan hurdles in win over Cardinals

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals certainly couldn’t use the injury-bug excuse for a disappointing performance against the Detroit Lions.

Arizona indeed entered Sunday’s game with an offensive line unit composed of three mid-season pickups and three rookies. It had just lost its leading wide receiver (Christian Kirk), was down a linebacker (Deone Bucannon) and was playing a banged-up slot corner (Budda Baker).

But unlike the Cardinals, the Lions didn’t even have time to prepare their backups for extended snaps. Twelve Detroit players suffered injuries in its 17-3 win over the Cardinals, and most of them didn’t return.

The theme of the day: adjusting and adapting.

Detroit did on Sunday — to unsuspected field conditions, to injuries and with its personnel. Arizona didn’t.

The Cardinals’ loss came on a slippery turf at State Farm Stadium that threw players for a curve as several players fell down early on.

“The field was awful,” Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson said. “I don’t understand how we got an indoor (stadium) and the field is terrible.”

None of the Lions suggested the turf was the blame for the injuries (“I don’t know, I’m not God,” said Lawson), but Lions head coach Matt Patricia admitted the field conditions were a point of emphasis heading into the game.

“I think everybody had to play on the field, both teams,” Patricia said. “Certainly, it was something we had seen on tape and knew that as the game goes on, it could get a little bit worse.

“We had to make some adjustments — it was really early in the game just kind of to get everybody a little bit tighter in some of the stuff they were doing. But it was good to just kind of get past it and just play the game.”

A lot of early slipping; per @DavePasch, the grass will be replaced after this game#DETvsAZ

— Craig Grialou (@CraigAZSports) December 9, 2018

Cardinals running back David Johnson was among the players who said they weren’t prepared for the field conditions. He changed into longer cleats in the first half.

“That was actually very surprising,” he said. “We didn’t even think about it being that slippery. I think it threw a lot of guys off how slippery it was, but that’s no excuse.”

The Cardinals, ultimately, couldn’t get over all the hurdles.

It was a late personnel change by the Lions that caught them off guard and shut the door on a potential comeback with a 67-yard pick-six by Darius Slay giving Detroit a 10-3 lead late in the third quarter.

After Detroit running backs LeGarrette Blount and Theo Reddick had been held in check to 73 rushing yards through 45 minutes, it was 221-pound back Zach Zenner who rushed 11 times for 52 yards in the fourth quarter to push the Lions to a two-touchdown lead.

“We weren’t evidently stout enough,” Cardinals linebacker Haason Reddick said of the Lions’ 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. “When the offense comes in bringing jumbo personnel like that you pretty much know it’s going to be a run.

“You’ve just got to do a better job and when situations like that come, you handle it like grown men and do what you’ve got to do to get off the field.”

Follow @kzimmermanaz