Was Cardinals’ 2nd half defensive effort vs. Lions a sign of things to come?
Sep 23, 2024, 7:27 PM
TEMPE — Early on into the Cardinals’ 20-13 loss to the Buffalo Bills, it looked like Arizona’s defense was in for a long afternoon after back-to-back scoring drives and a 20-point first half by the visitors.
Detroit’s two-headed running game was as advertised behind 109 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, while quarterback Jared Goff completed all 12 of his passing attempts for 137 yards and a pair of scores in the first two quarters.
There really wasn’t an area the Lions couldn’t beat the Cardinals, who trailed at the half for the first time this year, leaving some expecting the worst for the rest of the game.
The defense, however, didn’t just bounce back in the second half, it gave it right back to Detroit. And even though Arizona was on the losing end of the one-score ballgame, head coach Jonathan Gannon got a glimpse of what the unit can be.
“You give up 20 points in a half, that’s not great. And then to keep the score at 20 with the takeaway, the fourth-down stop, the punts in there … I thought they battled and gave us a chance,” Gannon said Monday. “That game could have gotten out of hand if they’re not physiologically prepped the right way. I think they showed me that they were.
“That’s the first time we’ve been down at half, right? What are you going to do about it? I thought that we made some adjustments and they executed the adjustments and we had guys make a bunch of plays. That was really good to see. That was one of the things I was enthused about last night watching it was we responded the right way. That’s typically the sign of a good unit.”
After quarterback Kyler Murray’s interception on the first drive of the second half put the Cardinals even further behind the eight ball at home, Arizona’s defense locked in and pitched a shutout the rest of the way.
Allowing just 123 yards of total offense across Detroit’s final seven drives of the game, the Cardinals defense forced four punts, a turnover on downs and an interception courtesy of pass rusher Dennis Gardeck.
A big part of Arizona’s success was limiting Detroit’s run game across the final two quarters and forcing the Lions into third-and-longer situations.
Following their strong first half on the ground behind David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions ran for just 78 yards on 22 carries.
Detroit’s average distance on third down meanwhile pumped up from 4.2 yards in the first half to 6.7 in the second. And when the Lions were in those short third-down situations of two yards or fewer — twice in the second half — the Cardinals defense was right there to force a fourth down.
That wasn’t the case early on, with Arizona allowing five third-down conversions out of six tries.
The Cardinals’ pass rush also saw an uptick in play as the game went on, doubling its pressures on Goff from two in the first to four in the second. It also doubled Detroit’s sacks allowed with a pair across Sunday’s action.
It’s an encouraging sign for the Cardinals pass rush heading into a Week 4 clash with former head coach Kliff Kingsbury and the Washington Commanders.
“I think we’re affecting the quarterback. I really do, especially in times of not known pass I think we’re doing a good job,” Gannon said. “A little bit better than last year I think. … In known pass (situations), I think we’re doing a better job of making the ball come out a little bit quicker, moving the quarterback off the spot and disrupting and affecting his timing and rhythm.”
