The Detroit Lions (0-2) have suffered consecutive divisional losses to start the season. They’ll be facing Kyler Murrary and the Arizona Cardinals (2-0), who have looked very good to start the year. They have an impressive win over the reigning NFC Champions San Fransisco 49ers, and of course beat the Washington Football Team.
Should you Expect a Repeat of Last Seasons Matchup?
Fox Bet has Detroit as the underdogs (+5.5) heading into their Week 3 matchup. It looks more than likely that Arizona will cover the line. The Cardinals have started the season very strong. The offense has gotten a huge boost from the De’Andre Hopkins trade. Their defense looks much more function-able than the vaunted Detroit Lions defense headed by mastermind Matt Patricia. Overall, Arizona has improved much more than Detroit in every facet of the game since their Week 1 meeting last season. Below are the highlights from the 2019 meeting, just incase you forgot what happened.
How can Detroit Win this game?
Not allowing 42 points is a good starting block. Not allowing 21 fourth-quarter points (Week 1, Mitchell Trubisky) is another one. It wouldn’t surprise me if Detroit pulled off the upset. The team has a lot to play for this weekend, being 0-2 and Patricia on the hot-seat might just spark a reaction. Matthew Stafford needs to do better with the ball in his hands. As Patricia would say, “We need to do better”. Detroit has the offensive capabilities of scoring 24 or more points against the Cardinals, though they’ve yet to score more than that this season.
Having said that, it’s more likely that Arizona will have their way against this Detroit defense. It’s too easy to prepare for. The front-four offer zero pass-rush and the secondary constantly lining up in man to man with a single-high safety is just a recipe for disaster. I’m sure Kliff Kingsbury is enjoying preparing for Detroit this week.
Final Score Prediction?
Detroit Lions 27 – Arizona Cardinals 34
