Arizona Cardinals Prepare for Home Opener Against Detroit Lions

Dec. 16, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA: The Arizona Cardinals line up against the Detroit Lions at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Week one is old news for the Arizona Cardinals.  Now it is on to the Detroit Lions.  The Lions are coming off an unimpressive 34-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.  I say unimpressive but the fact is they are 1-0 and the Cards are 0-1.  I fully expect both to be 1-1 after week two.

As we know, the Cards are coming off a 27-24  defeat to the St. Louis Rams.  Unfortunately the Cards could not hold onto an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.  This week should be a different result if the same scenario presents itself.

The Lions did look better last week than last season, I’ll give them that.  Now they have Reggie Bush and he did have an impressive game, which included a 77-yard TD reception and 21 carries for 90 yards.  A very nice debut no doubt.  Now he must face a Cards defense that has a good chance to stopping his run game but may have issues stopping him in the pass game.

As for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, a very Carson Palmer-esque day going 28-43 for 357 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.  This year’s contest could be much closer than the Cards 38-10 win at University of Phoenix Stadium last season.

The one piece of troubling news today was that Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald was limited in practice due to a hamstring issue.  Stay tuned for more news on that as the week progresses.  Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes this past Sunday, half of his 2012 total.