3 winners (and 4 losers) from Cardinals' Week 5 loss to Lions

The Arizona Cardinals are now 1-4 after a blowout loss at home against the Detroit Lions. Defense was predictably a glaring issue in this contest, as the Cardinals fell 45-21. This now marks four consecutive losses after pulling off their Week 1 upset over the Los Angeles Chargers. Seeing as this one was all but over by halftime, it's safe to say there were more losers than winners on the Cardinals' side.

Winner: Kendrick Bourne

We spotlighted Kendrick Bourne as the winner of the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade. He's off to a good start with that more clearly established role and place in the offensive hierarchy.

Bourne led all Cardinals pass catchers with 70 yards receiving on five receptions. While Michael Wilson is likely still the WR1 going forward in this offense, look for Bourne to continue this increased production going forward.

Winner: Trey McBride

Bourne may have led Arizona in receiving yards, but it was Trey McBride's nine receptions that were also a team high. McBride finished with 66 receiving yards and a touchdown. Just another night for arguably the best tight end in the league.

That's also why we debated whether McBride is a true winner of this game, though ultimately he solidified his spot with one of the most impressive touchdown catches you'll see this entire season:

Winner: Teagan Quitoriano

McBride wasn't the only Cardinals tight end making his red zone presence felt.

Teagan Quitoriano may have just had two receptions, but made the most of those 15 yards by scoring two touchdowns. Arizona no longer has Harrison's frame to rely on in the red zone, so it's encouraging to see someone like Quitoriano step up in his absence.

Loser: Nick Rallis

Head coach Mike LaFleur certainly deserves some of the blame, as should any head coach who loses 45-21.

But this Cardinals defense under coordinator Nick Rallis has been one of the worst in the league, giving their offense little to no shot at winning this game. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Cardinals have an active four-game losing streak, considering they have now also given up 30-plus points to opponents in four straight games.

During that four-game stretch, opponents have scored a total of 148 points, an average of 37 points per game. This Cardinals defense is trending in the wrong direction under Rallis.

Loser: Jacoby Brissett's reworked deal

Jacoby Brissett wasn't exactly the reason the Cardinals lost the game. But he wasn't going to be the reason they would win it either. This game against the Lions' offense showed that the Cardinals aren't on that same tier, and it's largely because they don't have a quarterback that is good enough to win these types of shootouts on a consistent basis.

Why give Brissett nearly $10 million more if these games aren't even going to be competitive regardless?

Loser: Jeremiyah Love

Jahmyr Gibbs vs. Jeremiyah Love was an anticipated storyline, but unfortunately for the Cardinals, it just showed how much further Love still has to go before being considered one of the best running backs in the league.

Love was a nonfactor in the passing game and finished with just 12 carries for 22 rushing yards --- good for a 1.8 YPC.

That's not what you want out of any running back, nonetheless a rookie the Cardinals just invested in so heavily in the draft. Negative game script wasn't working in his favor, but even with that being the case, you would've liked to see the Cardinals do a better job of getting Love more involved.

Loser: Offensive line

The Cardinals offensive line is dealing with injuries, and it showed on Sunday. This was already a below-average unit when fully healthy, meaning a depleted group turned into a weakness that the Lions were able to exploit.

It was ultimately the underlying reason why Love and Brissett weren't able to get anything going either on the ground or through the air. The Cardinals were never going to keep up with this shootout because they don't have a good enough line to be a truly elite offense.

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