Detroit21 Arizona
31
Detroit
| Detroit 21 | Arizona 31 |
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| November 11, 2007 | University of Phoenix Stadium-Attendance: 64,753 (63,000) | Time: 3:11 |
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| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER | DET | ARI |
| DET | TD | 10:34 | Kevin Jones rush to the left for 4 yards for a touchdown. | 6 | 0 |
| DET | PAT | 10:29 | Jason Hanson extra point attempt is good. | 7 | 0 |
| ARI | FG | 2:52 | Neil Rackers 23 yard field goal attempt is good. | 7 | 3 |
| SECOND QUARTER | DET | ARI |
| ARI | TD | 7:00 | Kurt Warner pass completion to the left to Larry Fitzgerald for 1 yard for a touchdown. | 7 | 9 |
| ARI | PAT | 7:00 | Neil Rackers extra point attempt is good. | 7 | 10 |
| ARI | TD | 0:18 | Tim Rattay pass completion to the left to Leonard Pope for 2 yards for a touchdown. | 7 | 16 |
| ARI | PAT | 0:18 | Neil Rackers extra point attempt is good. | 7 | 17 |
| THIRD QUARTER | DET | ARI |
| ARI | TD | 7:31 | Kurt Warner pass completion to the middle to Leonard Pope for 16 yards for a touchdown. | 7 | 23 |
| ARI | PAT | 7:31 | Neil Rackers extra point attempt is good. | 7 | 24 |
| DET | TD | 2:52 | Jon Kitna pass completion to the left to Roy Williams for 7 yards for a touchdown. | 13 | 24 |
| DET | PAT | 2:52 | Jason Hanson extra point attempt is good. | 14 | 24 |
| FOURTH QUARTER | DET | ARI |
| ARI | TD | 13:23 | Kurt Warner pass completion to the middle to Larry Fitzgerald for 20 yards for a touchdown. | 14 | 30 |
| ARI | PAT | 13:23 | Neil Rackers extra point attempt is good. | 14 | 31 |
| DET | TD | 1:15 | Jon Kitna pass completion to the left to Roy Williams for 7 yards for a touchdown. | 20 | 31 |
| DET | PAT | 1:15 | Jason Hanson extra point attempt is good. | 21 | 31 |
| Statistics |
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| Team Stat Comparison |
| DET | ARI | |
| 1st Downs | 16 | 21 |
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| 3rd down efficiency | 4-10 | 5-11 |
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| 4th down efficiency | 0-1 | 0-0 |
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| Total Yards | 245 | 319 |
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| Passing | 263 | 246 |
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| Comp-Att | 32-45 | 27-37 |
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| Yards per pass | 5.4 | 6.3 |
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| Rushing | -18 | 73 |
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| Rushing Attempts | 8 | 28 |
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| Yards per rush | -2.3 | 2.6 |
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| Penalties | 10-70 | 9-70 |
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| Sacks against | 4-31 | 2-15 |
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| Turnovers | 5 | 4 |
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| Fumbles-lost | 4-3 | 3-3 |
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| Interceptions thrown | 2 | 1 |
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| Possession | 25:32 | 34:28 |
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The combination was way too much for the Detroit Lions.
The linebacker intercepted two passes and forced a fumble to help Arizona's defense make mistake-prone Detroit look like the lowly Lions of old in the Cardinals' 31-21 victory on Sunday.
''Just blessed to be back and get the opportunity to come back and play the game that I love,'' Dansby said.
Two of Dansby's plays led to Arizona touchdowns in his first game since going down with a knee injury early against Carolina on Oct. 14.
''Obviously he made a big difference for us today,'' coach Ken Whisenhunt said. ''His speed, his ability to make plays in the pass game. I give him a lot of credit.''
Kurt Warner, playing with a torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) shoulder, shook off an early interception to complete 26 of 36 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns, two to Larry Fitzgerald. Backup Tim Rattay also had a TD pass as Arizona (4-5) snapped a three-game skid and improved to 3-1 at home in front of another loud, capacity crowd.
Tight end Leonard Pope caught two touchdown passes for the Cardinals.
Warner had expressed his disgust at Arizona's performance in a 17-10 loss at Tampa Bay last week.
''It comes down to each man having to be a man and be a pro and know what they're not doing,'' Warner said, ''what they're holding back, what they're limiting this team to by not giving everything they have each and every day.''
The loss dropped the Lions (6-3) two games behind first-place Green Bay in the NFC North. The Cardinals are just a half-game behind first-place Seattle in the weak NFC West. The Seahawks play at home against San Francisco on Monday night.
''We looked terrible today,'' wide receiver Roy Williams said, ''real terrible.''
Jon Kitna was 32-of-45 for 294 yards, including two touchdowns to Roy Williams, but he was intercepted twice and fumbled twice, accounting for four of the Lions' five turnovers. Kitna had not been intercepted in four games. The second TD pass came with 1:15 to play, when the outcome had long been determined.
''Missed tackles, 11 penalties, five turnovers, and our coverage units weren't very good,'' coach Rod Marinelli said. ''That covers our entire football team.''
The Lions had minus-18 yards rushing, the second-fewest allowed in Cardinals' history. They were the Chicago Cardinals when they held Detroit to minus-24 yards on Oct. 13, 1946.
Kevin Jones had zero yards in four carries. Marinelli said he twice pulled Jones from the game because of a sore foot.
Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said the Cardinals took offense to all the talk about how talented the Lions' defensive line was.
''We've been hearing Shaun Rogers this and Cory Redding that,'' Dockett said. ''Everybody said 'We hope you can match their intensity.' We took it as a slap in the face. Our approach as a d-line was to go out here and show that they've got to match our intensity.''
Arizona led 17-7 in a first half that really wasn't as close as the score indicated.
The Cardinals had the ball for more than 21 of the first 30 minutes of play. The Cardinals had a 14-2 advantage in first downs and 196-46 in yards in the first half. Warner threw for two touchdowns in the second half, the last a 20-yarder to Fitzgerald to give the Cardinals a 31-14 with 13:23 to go.
Arizona had four turnovers, three of them fumbles.
Steve Breaston, who also had a 52-yard kickoff return, returned a punt 46 yards to the Detroit 13 to set up Arizona's first touchdown. Three plays later, Fitzgerald caught Warner's lob for a 1-yard touchdown and Arizona led for good, 10-7.
The Cardinals mounted their longest drive of the season late in the second quarter, 90 yards in 15 plays. Warner got Arizona to the Detroit 9.
Because of Warner's injury, coach Ken Whisenhunt switched to Rattay in goal-line situations. Rattay handed off to J.J. Arrington, who ran seven yards to the 2. On the next play, he faked a handoff up the middle, then rolled right and tossed to a wide-open Pope to give Arizona a 17-7 lead with 18 seconds left in the half.
I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Although I thought the Lions could win this game, I was not expecting them to completely unravel. This was a game where the honolulu blue and silver needed to win to show the naysayers that they were not frauds. Unfortunately, all they did is show they struggle mightly when playing against a decent QB. After the Defense setup a quick Lions touchdown it was all down here from there. John Kitna, who went three games without turning the ball over had four turnovers. The Offense was lethargic most of the game and had only one good drive. The last touchdown was in mop up time. The Defense which was unstoppable the last three games had four turnovers but let Kurt Warner and company score at will. The Special Teams were terrible giving up long returns twice that setup two Arizona touchdowns. It is a game the honolulu blue and silver better forget about because if they don't they will find themselves marred in a multi game losing streak before they even know what hit them.
Offense: --- F. Sorry but the Offense deserves an "F" even though they put up 21 points. They were horrid just about the entire game. They had at one point four straight three and outs in the first half! How about that running game?!?!? EIGHT attempts and a NEGATIVE EIGHTEEN yards?!?! Sorry, but Arizona does not have a great run defense. John Kitna looked like he did much of last year - turning the ball over and running for his life. The Offensive Line, which has done a good job during the three game win streak, was terrible. One of the few bright spots was seeing Roy Williams catch two touchdowns - his first since September. Calvin Johnson had only three catches and has been awfully quiet the past few games. It was a performance the Offense better quickly forget about.
Defense: --- C-. The Defense had four turnovers but that pretty much was it. Unlike the past few games, they finally faced a decent Offense and got burned. Kurt Warner hooked up with Larry Fitzgerald twice for touchdowns and pretty much had his way with the Lions Defense. It did not help the Defense that the Offense had five turnovers and the Special Teams gave up to long runs, but they played no where near as good as they had during the three game winning streak.
Special Teams: --- F. Coverage could not have been any worse! Twice they got burned for long returns which resulted in two scores for the Cardinals. What a shame since that was the last thing I was expecting. Travis Walters is completely worthless returning kicks - can't the Lions find someone else to do the job?
Coaching: --- D-. Nice job Martz running the ball eight times the entire game?!?! As has been the case in all their losses, when the Lions abandon the run, they lose. I don't care what you are losing by, run the damn ball! I am curious to see how Marinelli gets his team ready for a pivotal game against the Giants on Sunday.
Overall: --- D. The Lions were not expected to win this game but with a three game winning streak it sure felt like they would. But, when you turn the ball over five times, you are not going to win many games in the NFL. Fortunately for the Lions they have two straight games at home. The bad news - two teams that will give them fits. The more I think about it, the Giants are like the Lions - two fraudulant teams who beat up on weak opponents. When the Lions and Giants faced decent competition, they have lost. Something has to give on Sunday and all i'll say is the honolulu blue and silver better win. If they lose, you better believe this season could come crashing down. The Packers look to be one of the best teams in the NFC and going into Thanksgiving with a two game losing streak - all i'll say is it could be a fourth straight Turkey Day where the Lions get blown out. Lets hope not.
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