The Arizona Cardinals did not have the same offensive success on Sunday against the Detroit Lions that they had last week against the Los Angeles Rams.
They lost 20-13 on Sunday, scoring only six points after the opening-drive touchdown.
Here is everything we know about what happened offensively for Arizona in the loss.
Run game bottled up
The Cardinals have used the run game to set up their offensive success but were unable to do that against a team that shuts down running backs.
They finished with only 77 rushing yards, a season low so far, and only 32 of those yards came from the running backs. Quarterback Kyler Murray had 45 yards but only nine yards after his first two runs in the first offensive possession.
James Conner’s 17 yards were the fewest he has had with the Cardinals in a game. His streak of seven consecutive games scoring a touchdown was ended.
Third down was tough
After playing very well on third down before Week 3, the Lions made the Cardinals get off the field.
They finished the game converting only one third down, which happened in their opening drive. They went 1-for-9 for the game on third down and then failed twice in twice attempts on fourth down, leading to turnovers on downs.
Missed opportunities on one-on-one matchups
The Lions play a lot of man defense and, as a result, the Cardinals had a lot of opportunities one-on-one. However, there were slightly off-target throws, broken up passes and a couple of drops.
Murray got greedy on interception
Murray explained after the game that he was just trying to give Marvin Harrison Jr. a chance to get a jump ball in the end zone and make a play on the one throw he had intercepted.
He said “that wasn’t the time,” reflectively. He was disappointed to throw his first interception of the season in that moment because he said he felt they were going to score on that drive.
Only passing in the fourth quarter
The Cardinals didn’t attempt a running play in the final quarter, which does make some sense because they were 10 points down for most of the final frame.
Murray went 11-for-17 in the fourth quarter for 119 yards.
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