Lions HC Dan Campbell praises ‘tricky’ Arizona Cardinals ahead of matchup
Sep 17, 2024, 5:44 PM
Head coach Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions looks on against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Ford Field on September 15, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
(Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
The Detroit Lions sure haven’t had a boring start to their 2024 season. They played a tightly contested Sunday Night Football affair to beat the Los Angeles Rams in overtime before having a chance to win late again versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Dan Campbell’s squad that has Super Bowl hopes now has to get on the road for the first time this year and face an Arizona Cardinals team that had perhaps the most impressive performance of Week 2.
Campbell spoke Monday on his initial impressions of the Cardinals.
“The nature of the way they play, I would say schematically on both sides of the ball, it’s tricky,” he said. “They run some things that are, not unorthodox, it’s just they give you a lot. And they’re very active up front. Offensively, they give you a lot of different personnel groups. They play hard, they’re physical.”
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Campbell went on to run through the main pieces on the Arizona offense.
“Obviously, the quarterback, when he gets out and runs around, he’s dangerous,” Campbell said. “He’s always been that way. They’ve got some weapons to throw to. This back room is heavy.”
The nod to Kyler Murray could not have been better timed after his off-schedule mastery versus the Rams in Sunday’s 41-10 thrashing was a true difference-maker. Arizona also got the running game going in a major way via 21 carries and 122 yards for James Conner. The “heavy” nod goes to not only a 233-pound Conner but 223-pound rookie Trey Benson too, two physical runners with different skill sets to worry about.
Campbell knows that “tricky” maneuvering goes beyond the 12 and 13 personnel the Cardinals offense runs, noting how defensive coordinator Nick Rallis mixes it up plenty as well.
“Defensively, they can give you multiple looks up front and coverages as well so you gotta be on it,” he said. “Now the good news is we just played a team that gives you a lot of differnet looks defensively and so that’s actually good. We oughta be primed and prepped a little bit to be able to adjust on the fly.
“It’s a good football team. They’re playing at a high level.”
