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The Arizona Cardinals need to thank the Detroit Lions

By Vijay Singaraju

Oct 11, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell (R) shakes hands with Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians (L) after their game at Ford Field. Arizona won 42-17. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell (R) shakes hands with Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians (L) after their game at Ford Field. Arizona won 42-17. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Arizona Cardinals should be sending a gift basket to the Detroit Lions.

By now you have all seen Amazon’s All or Nothing  series featuring the Arizona Cardinals. Similarly, you probably know that Steve Keim and the coaching staff were looking to draft the Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah with the 58th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. However, the Detroit Lions intervened and took him with the 54th pick.

While it was disappointing at the time, this ended up being one of the franchise’s greatest turn of events. With Abdullah off the board, the Cardinals ended up taking linebacker Markus Golden from Mizzou with the 58th pick. Later, Arizona found its running back in the third round; David Johnson from Northern Iowa.

Markus Golden had a respectable rookie season and played in 15 regular season and 2 playoff games. The former Mizzou Tiger finished the season with 31 combined tackles, 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

This season, Golden is on pace to eclipse his rookie year statistics by a landslide. Through 5 games, Golden 22 combined tackles, 6 sacks and 1 forced fumble. Golden’s 6 sacks is good for third most in the league.

David Johnson had a tremendous rookie year once he took over the starting role with both Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington going down. In 5 games as a starter, Johnson rushed for 442 yards, 4 touchdowns along with 216 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown.

Now the unquestioned starter, Johnson leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 695. 457 of these yards have come on the ground, while 238 have come via the air. To cap it off, Johnson is tied for third in the league with 5 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Ameer Abdullah is on injured reserve for 2016 and finished the season with 101 rushing yards and 183 receiving yards and 1 touchdown. He is also stuck in a running back by committee backfield with the Lions. In addition, Abdullah has only scored 4 total touchdowns in his career.

Given the way things have turned out for the Cardinals, a big thank you is due to the Lions.

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