Allen Park — The Detroit Lions calmed some concerns with its struggling defense, particularly the secondary, heading into the bye week.
Obviously, a one-game sample size doesn’t negate what happened the first month of the season, but all the unit could do is look to make improvements against the Arizona Cardinals’ mid-tier offense, building some much-needed positive momentum heading into the break.
With some schematic and personnel tweaks, the Lions limited the Cardinals to 327 yards and 21 points, with much of that damage coming in the second half, while the Lions were protecting a big lead.
So what does the tape tell us about the impact of the adjustments? What worked and what remains a concern?
Let’s find out together. We’ll break the game down into three parts — the opening drive, a dominant stretch the remainder of the first half, and an up-and-down finish — before offering some concluding, overview thoughts.
Opening drive struggles
After the Lions quickly punted to open the contest, the Cardinals took over at their own 27-yard line and promptly drove 73 yards on 14 plays. If you thought, “Oh no, here we go again,” no one could have reasonably blamed you.