We’re down 21 points.
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Stafford completed 20 of 32 passes for 188 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions before being replaced. Rookie David Johnson scored twice on short runs and Andre Ellington joined the party in the fourth quarter by galloping 63 yards for another touchdown.
Lions coach Jim Caldwell said he didn’t have a quarterback controversy despite benching Stafford.
So is attitude. Caldwell said he “will never make excuses”, which is good. “The pitcher comes out, and the pitcher, obviously, he’s still the starter”. He’s still our starter, so there’ll be no issues there.
Defensive end Cory Redding had the highlight play, intercepting an attempted screen pass and rumbling 30 yards to the Lions 4 – tripped up only by Stafford in a one-on-one situation.
Special Teams was the only bright spot out of the team besides the Abdullah fumble that was overturned. The keys to a Lions victory will be preventing Arizona from executing big plays on offense and the Lions offense will need to find balance and unpredictability. He was fortunate that his fumble on a second-quarter kickoff did not result in a turnover, as the defender was out of bounds. The last two games have provided a few signs of life, particularly on defense and those flashes on offense when Matthew Stafford is allowed to work with tempo.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw a touchdown pass to Matt Forte very late against the Chiefs last week to cap a comeback from 17-6 down with less than five minutes to play. The Lions don’t owe him any guaranteed money after this season, and a new regime may decide to eat the $11 million cap hit in 2016 and start over with a new quarterback. I got to play better.
Let’s not place sole blame on Matthew Stafford however there is still plenty to go around. Can the franchise go forward in the long term with Stafford behind center? The game can be watched on TV on the Fox network or online through free live stream via the link below.
-LB DeAndre Levy made his first appearance of the season but it wasn’t a triumphant return. He did not have a tackle.
“I feel comfortable and confident”, said Palmer, whose 154.2 passer rating was the second highest of his career that started when Cincinnati drafted him No. 1 overall in 2003. “It’s just something I have to keep managing”.
Tate had eight catches for 74 yards plus an 8-yard run on a reverse.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals (4-1) outscored the Lions 28-0 in the second quarter.
Players are confused. Tate stands stiffly, an angered look in his eyes, hands on his hips, as this offense burns timeouts to align themselves.
Losing like that is not acceptable, we understand that, said Stafford who is in his seventh season as starting quarterback. The Cardinals are the better team, but it will take a whole team effort for them to come out on top.
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“I would like to welcome the mistakes so we can continue to tweak them and mold them and change them and come up with different ways to attack different guys from our schemes and protections and stuff like that”, he said.
