I think the Lions will be able to control the line of scrimmage when it comes to the run game this week. Ehinger has six career starts in his five-year career.Īdvantage: Lions +1. Kraemer is really the only healthy option on the roster outside of third-string center Ryan McCollum, though Detroit could promote Parker Ehinger from the practice squad. Player to watch: Whoever is playing left guard? Tommy Kraemer? It’s not entirely clear who would step in if Jackson can’t play this week, but Kraemer stepped in at right guard earlier in the year. So while they’ve still only held four teams below 4.0 yards per carry in a game, it’s clear they’re better than they were earlier in the year. However, as you can tell from the chart above, they haven’t allowed 4.7 yards per carry in an entire game since Week 5 vs. Lately, they’ve been much better in stopping the run, but in each of their three losses, the opponent outgained their season average yards per carry.įor the season, the Cardinals are allowing 4.7 yards per carry, which is 31st in the league. The Lions rank 15th in power success rate, converting on third and fourth and short just 66 percent of the time.Įarly in the season, the Cardinals were absolutely awful in run defense-but they kept winning anyways. Where they really need improvement, however, is in short yardage situations. Overall, the Lions rank eighth in yards per carry (4.6) and are earning first downs on 26 percent of carries (11th). Still, Detroit seems genuinely happy with their running back depth as Godwin Igwebuike, Craig Reynolds and rookie seventh-round pick Jermar Jefferson have all shined in limited opportunities. And while the Lions are expected to get backup center Evan Brown back this week, things are not looking good for left guard Jonah Jackson’s availability. It continues to look like the Lions will be without D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams this week (unless the updated COVID policy clears Williams soon). The Lions’ running game remains somewhat efficient, despite all of the injuries along the offensive line and backfield. That being said, the Lions can neutralize Arizona’s pass rush, so the pressure will be on Goff to take advantage of that. Hockenson out of the rest of the year, Goff’s job is only getting harder. The Lions pass offense is improving, but it still has a long ways to go. If there’s one thing Sewell can improve upon, it’s his pass protection, so this is a nice test for him.Īdvantage: Cardinals +2. Golden leads the Cardinals with 10.0 sacks this season, while Sewell has been one of the best offensive tackles in football over the past month. strength in this game, but this is probably the one exception. The Cardinals are t-13th in interceptions (12). They can get after the quarterback with 35 sacks on the season (t-sixth) and they’ve got some ballhawks, too. Overall, they’re allowing just 6.6 yards per pass attempt (fourth) and a passer rating of 87.1 (10th). In fact, nearly half (6 of 13) have been held below 200. They’ve allowed a passer rating above 90 in just five of 13 games this year, and there hasn’t been a single quarterback who has eclipsed 300 net passing yards against this defense. The Cardinals’ pass defense has been pretty solid all year. Brown has 18 catches for 159 yards and one touchdown in the past two games, and Josh Reynolds has seven catches for 121 yards over the same span. The league average is 4.98.īut, hey, Amon-Ra St. They rank 31st in points per red zone trip, averaging just 4.32 point. The Lions are now 30th in points scored per drive (1.55) and have been particularly horrible in the red zone. Jared Goff looks more comfortable with his receiving corps than ever, but he’s still prone to back-breaking mistakes that have caused too many drives to stall or completely flip in the opponent’s favor. The Lions’ yardage is back up after some ugly performances against the Steelers and Browns, but their efficiency is still bad. So can our scrapping Lions challenge one of the best teams in the NFL this week? Let’s take a closer look at Lions vs. Heck, they nearly took down the Rams in Los Angeles. They were in control against the Green Bay Packers through 2.5 quarters. They took the Baltimore Ravens to the wire. But we’ve seen the Lions hang with some tough opponents this year. That’s not exactly good news with the Arizona Cardinals and MVP candidate Kyler Murray coming to town. Unfortunately for Detroit, they’ve only been adding more players to the reserve/COVID-19 list this week, and now they may be even more shorthanded than last week, particularly in the secondary. Hopes were that they’d be healthier now, after battling the flu and COVID last week. The Detroit Lions are looking to bounce back this week after a tough, blowout loss to the Denver Broncos.
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