Arizona Cardinals vs Detroit Lions: Game balls

The Arizona Cardinals rolled the Detroit Lions 42-17 on Sunday afternoon at Ford Field in Detroit

As opposed to last week, choosing who gets game balls after the Arizona Cardinals 42-17 victory Sunday over the Detroit Lions actually might prove harder only because a number of players deserve one.  I usually pick no more than three.

So here are the three guys I am going with for game balls on Sunday.  Clearly, as one Twitter follower put it, I could have given 20 game balls.  There’s a lot of truth there.

First game ball:

Chris Johnson.  He had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season.  You can break his day down to two huge runs.  He had a 25-yarder and a 40-yarder.  Both were crucial plays in scoring drives.  Although he didn’t reach the end zone, he surely helped the Cards get there.

Johnson found the holes as he has every week so far.  He carried the ball 11 times for 103 yards.  He was taken out early in the fourth quarter after his last carry took him over 100-yards.  Don’t ever tell me a team doesn’t know where a player stands.

Second game ball:

Rashad Johnson.  He had two interceptions on Sunday.  The first one came on Detroit’s first drive of the game.  Unfortunately it didn’t result in points but it did help set the tone on the day for the defense.

Johnson also had five tackles on the day.  He was very active all over the field Sunday.  He didn’t allow receivers to beat him.  Johnson now has three interceptions on the season.

Third game ball:

Carson Palmer.  He was just 11-14 for 161 yards on Sunday but he had three touchdowns and no interceptions.  He managed the game very well.

He brilliantly orchestrated a 99-yard drive in the second quarter.  He threw a beautiful 49-yard pass from the one-yard line to receiver John Brown along the right sideline.  You couldn’t throw a better long ball than Palmer did right there.  It was perfectly placed.