Arizona Cardinals Find Win Column Again, Whip Detroit Lions 38-10
By Scott Allen
Dec. 16, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: Arizona Cardinals running back Beanie Wells (26) is congratulated by Larry Fitzgerald (11) after running for a touchdown against the Detroit Lions in the second quarter at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to the win column Arizona Cardinals. I don’t care how it happened, but it happened. The last time we got to feel like this, it was still well over 100 degrees outside. The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Detroit Lions on Sunday 38-10 in a game dominated by the defense. The defense intercepted Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford three times, twice for touchdowns, including a fourth-quarter 102 yard return by Greg Toler, to lead the Cardinals to their first victory since September 30th.
The offense had little to do today. They basically filled in the gaps. They got the first two scores with Beanie Wells touchdown runs. Wells added a third touchdown run in the fourth to seal the deal. It was a nice effort by Beanie today. He ran hard and though his stats don’t necessarily show he ran for a lot today, he looked at his best this season.
Ryan Lindley didn’t lose the game today and that’s all we as fans can ask for. He didn’t have to run the offense much as the Cards defense and special teams took car of business. Lindley did throw the one pick and only threw for 104 yards. He only had seven incompletions though. That by far was his best performance of the season to date.
If there was a take-away from today’s game was there appered to be no give-up in the Cards on either side of the ball. Sure, there were some questionable play calls, again, on the offensive side of things, however for me it was enough today. They tried 100 percent. Fans just want to see the effort. They got it today. They were able to make last week a distant memory and although they will have to look back at it as a learning tool, they will be able to look at it as an aberration too. The Cards offense has struggled this season but last week it was a complete non-effort. Today, the defense and special teams showed up and the offense did what it needed to do.
Next week the Chicago Bears are up. They are reeling. They’ve lose five of six and now are in danger of not making the playoffs after a 7-1 start themselves. That’s the NFL for you and as for the Lions, well they are now 4-10. I never thought I’d see this Lions team lose 10 games after last season. They have work to do and so do the Cards. It appears though, the Cards work will be mainly on the offense. The defense was back today and was it ever. It was very pleasant to see. Let’s finish it out with duplicate efforts the next two weeks.