These things are not supposed to happen in the NFL – but don’t tell the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions that. As the heavily-favored Cardinals came into Ford Field on Sunday, it was the Lions that gave them a taste of their own medicine, controlling the entire game for a 30-12 win.
The supposedly-listless Lions came out of the gate strong against the Cardinals, as Jared Goff orchestrated his best performance of the year so far. On defense, the Lions were able to keep Kyler Murray and company at bay, consistently making them feel comfortable and unable to follow their gameplan.
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Lions Week 15 Takeaways
3. Goff finally looked like an NFL-caliber QB again
It has been ages since we have seen the quality of play from Goff, and that probably dates back to the season where helped lead the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl. While the Cardinals do not have a superb defense, he was able to dissect it to the tune of 21/26 for 216 yards and 3 TDs, finding seven different targets along the way.
Throwing TDs to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, and Jason Cabinda, Goff showed a poise in the pocket that made him look like more than just a salary dump like he essentially was in the Matthew Stafford trade. He is in no way put himself into the conversation to become the long-term solution for the Lions at QB, but he helped his case to potentially hold onto a role on the team for next year, and even beyond, potentially in a mentorship role.
2. Their WR core is better than its given credit for – especially its rookie
This franchise has had its fair share of wide receiver talent walk through their doors, and they have seen plenty walk out of their doors as well, as is the case with Kenny Golladay leaving for richer pastures last offseason. With no real in-house candidates to fill that WR1 role, things looked bleak for Goff’s targets outside of T.J. Hockenson.
But St. Brown has more than filled that need this year, as he has received five-plus targets in nine games this year (St. Brown was 8/90/1 on Sunday), with his last three games receiving 11 (1) and 12 (2) targets each. A line of 57 receptions for 511 and 1 TD is quite healthy for the USC rookie, and St. Brown likely will continue in this role for the rest of the year, shown by his 34.3% target share over the past three games.
His emergence has helped lessen the need for the Lions to go WR early in the 2022 draft, which will help them address more important areas of this team to help them expedite their rebuild timeline.
1. Dan Campbell was right for the job
Not looked at as a top name when he was hired, head coach Dan Campbell has been a revelation for this team, and how this team has performed reflects that.
While only winning 2 games across the first 14 is a reflection of how bad the Lions are, those two victories have come in two of their last three games, showing that Campbell is getting through to his players, and they are stepping up when he needs them to.
The rebuild is going to be an arduous one for the Lions, but they look to have the right man for the job in Campbell at this time – even if he does make unexpected comments about his appetite for knee caps.