Thursday night offered Lions fans the chance to get a little taste of the team’s Week 1 foe, the Arizona Cardinals. The Cards played the Oakland Raiders in a nationally televised game.
It did not go well for Arizona. Rookie coach Kliff Kingsbury’s team fell behind 26-0 and struggled to even snap the ball legally with No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray at QB. They also suffered a significant injury.
Starting CB Robert Alford broke his tibia in the game. He will miss at least two months, possibly longer. That’s good news for the Lions and Matthew Stafford when they attempt to throw against the Cardinals. Remember, the other starting CB is Patrick Peterson and he’s suspended for the first six weeks.
To say the Cardinals pass defense struggled all night, against the Raiders no less, is a major understatement. From Cardinals Wire:
How bad was the pass defense overall?
Both Derek Carr and Mike Glennon finished with perfect passer ratings. Nathan Peterson was a perfect 8-or-8 passing. The three quarterbacks combined for only three incompletions to go with three touchdown passes. Glennon had all three incompletions.
It’s just preseason, but the Week 1 matchup sure looks more appealing for the Lions after seeing the Cardinals’ struggles and the unfortunate Alford injury.
