Game Information:
Last Meeting: Arizona 14 – Detroit 6 on November 16th, 2014
Series Overall: Detroit leads 31-27-5 (Arizona has won six straight)
Location: Ford Field – Detroit, Michigan
Weather Forecast: Dome
Kickoff Time: 4:05 PM ET
Betting Line: Arizona -3.5, Total: 46
Broadcast: FOX and the Detroit Lions Radio Network
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STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Detroit Lions:
PASS: Matthew Stafford: 65.0% CMP, 1,017 YDS, 5 TD, 5 INT
RUSH: Ameer Abdullah: 34 CAR, 115 YDS, 1 TD
REC: Calvin Johnson: 27 REC, 255 YDS, 1 TD
DEF: Stephen Tulloch: 31 TACK, 1 TFL, 0 PD, 0 INT, 1 FUM-REC
Arizona Cardinals:
PASS: Carson Palmer: 63.4% CMP, 1,155 YDS, 10 TD, 3 INT
RUSH: Chris Johnson: 68 CAR, 302 YDS, 2 TD
REC: Larry Fitzgerald: 30 REC, 432 YDS, 5 TD
DEF: Calais Campbell: 25 TACK, 4 TFL, 0.5 SACK, 1 PD, 0 INT
Detroit Lions Depth Chart:
Offense:
| POS | FIRST | SECOND | THIRD |
| WR | #15 Golden Tate | #16 Lance Moore | #13 TJ Jones |
| LT | #71 Riley Rieff | #70 Corey Robinson | |
| LG | #63 Manny Ramirez | #72 Laken Tomlinson | |
| C | #65 Travis Swanson | #63 Manny Ramirez | #65 Taylor Boggs |
| RG | #75 Larry Warford | #63 Manny Ramirez | #65 Taylor Boggs |
| RT | #66 LaAdrian Waddle | #77 Cornelius Lucas | |
| TE | #87 Brandon Pettigrew | #85 Eric Ebron | #89 Tim Wright |
| WR | #81 Calvin Johnson | #10 Corey Fuller | |
| QB | #9 Matthew Stafford | #8 Dan Orlovsky | |
| RB | #35 Joique Bell* | #25 Theo Riddick | #21 Ameer Abdullah |
| #34 Zach Zenner | |||
| FB | #46 Michael Burton | ||
| *Expected to miss game injured | |||
Defense:
| POS | FIRST | SECOND | THIRD |
| DE | #91 Jason Jones | #52 Darryl Tapp | |
| DT | #97 Caraun Reid | #63 Jermelle Cudjo | #96 Andre Fluellen |
| DT | #92 Haloti Ngata* | #90 Gabe Wright | #67 Ishmaa’ily Kitchen |
| DE | #94 Ezekiel Ansah | #98 Devin Taylor | |
| OLB | #59 Tahir Whitehead | #53 Kyle Van Noy | #95 Brandon Copeland |
| MLB | #55 Stephen Tulloch | #50 Travis Lewis | |
| OLB | #54 DeAndre Levy | #57 Josh Bynes | |
| CB | #23 Darius Slay | #30 Josh Wilson | |
| CB | #31 Rashean Mathis | #24 Nevin Lawson | #28 Quandre Diggs |
| SS | #32 James Ihedigbo | #32 Don Carey | |
| FS | #27 Glover Quin | #42 Isa Abdul-Quddus | |
| *Expected to miss game – injured | |||
Arizona Depth Chart:
Offense:
| POS | FIRST | SECOND | THIRD |
| WR1 | #11 Larry Fitzgerald | #13 Jaron Brown | #10 Brittan Golden |
| LT | #68 Jared Veldheer | #79 Bradley Sowell | |
| LG | #76 Mike Iupati | #62 Ted Larsen | |
| C | #63 Lyle Sendlein | #53 A.Q. Shipley | |
| RG | #61 Jonathan Cooper | #78 Earl Watford | |
| RT | #70 Bobbie Massie | #78 Earl Watford | #74 D.J. Humphries |
| TE1 | #85 Darren Fells | #87 Troy Niklas | |
| WR2 | #15 Michael Floyd | #12 John Brown | #14 J.J. Nelson |
| QB | Carson Palmer | Drew Stanton | Matt Barkely |
| RB | #38 Andre Ellington* | #23 Chris Johnson | #31 David Johnson |
| #30 Stepfan Taylor | |||
| TE2 | #84 Jermaine Greshman | ||
| *Expected to miss the game – injured | |||
Defense:
| POS | FIRST | SECOND | THIRD |
| DE | #93 Calais Campbell | #90 Cory Redding | |
| NT | #95 Rodney Gunter | #94 Xavier Williams | |
| DT | #92 Frostee Rucker | #97 Josh Mauro | #91 Ed Stinson |
| SLB | #56 LaMarr Woodley | #44 Markus Golden | |
| ILB | #55 Sean Weatherspoon | #54 Kenny Demens | |
| ILB | #51 Kevin Minter | #59 Alani Fua | |
| WLB | #57 Alex Okafor | #96 Kareem Martin | #47 Shaq Riddick |
| LCB | #21 Patrick Peterson | #28 Justin Bethel | |
| RCB | #25 Jerraud Powers | #28 Justin Bethel | |
| SS | #26 Rashad Johnson | #22 Tony Jefferson | |
| FS | #32 Tyrann Mathiew | #20 Deone Bucannon | #29 Chris Clemons |
Injury Report:
Lions injury designations:
| POS. | PLAYER | INJURY | STATUS |
| RB | Joique Bell | Ankle | Out |
| TE | Eric Ebron | Knee | Out |
| DT | Haloti Ngata | Calf | Out |
| DE | Ziggy Ansah | Shoulder | Probable |
| OLB | DeAndre Levy | Hip | Probable |
| OLB | Travis Lewis | Ankle | Probable |
| CB | Rashean Mathis | Calf | Probable |
| WR | Lance Moore | Ankle | Probable |
| OT | Corey Robinson | Ankle | Probable |
| P | Sam Martin | Left Knee | Probable |
| TE | Brandon Pettigrew | Hamstring | Probable |
| CB | Darius Slay | Quadricep | Probable |
| SS | James Ihedigbo | Quadricep | Questionable |
| OG | Larry Warford | Ankle | Questionable |
Cardinals injury designations:
| POS. | PLAYER | INJURY | STATUS |
| S | Chris Clemons | Hamstring | Probable |
| RB | Andre Ellington | Knee | Probable |
| LB | Alani Fua | Hamstring | Probable |
| S | Rashad Johnson | Hip | Probable |
| DT | Frostee Rucker | Thigh | Probable |
| OLB | LaMarr Woodley | Thigh | Probable |
| CB | Justin Bethel | Foot | Probable |
| TE | Darren Fells | Hip | Questionable |
| WR | J.J. Nelson | Shoulder | Questionable |
Three Keys to the Victory:
- Stay committed to the running game: Yes, the Lions are only averaging 2.7 yards per carry but they have to keep trying. The Cardinals front seven is very good so it might be like running into a brick wall, but they still have to try. If Matthew Stafford has to stand back there and throw 50 times, not only will he leave this game on a stretcher, but the Lions will be blown out on the scoreboard.
- Find a way to get the ball down the field: The Lions still can’t find a way to get the ball down the field. They only have one run of 20 or more yards and have only completed three passes of more than 20 yards in the air. A lot of it has to do with the deficiency of the offensive line, but the majority belongs with the offensive coordinator. The Lions will have to find a way to get chunk plays against the Cardinals to hang in there.
- Defense depth players having a career game: The Lions are down their top two defensive tackles, Tyrunn Walker for the year and Haloti Ngata for hopefully just today. Caraun Reid and Gabe Wright will be getting their first career starts today. The Lions will also be featuring two defensive tackles that were unemployed until this week. This game could get ugly if they don’t have the best game of their lives.
Prediction
Detroit Lions 13 – Arizona Cardinals 27
The Arizona Cardinals are just too damn good and are supposed to get dual threat running back Andre Ellington today. The Lions will be getting back DeAndre Levy who should help neutralize Ellington, but that won’t help the Lions offense score against one of the most talented defenses in the NFL.