The Arizona Cardinals face the Detroit Lions in Week 1 of the 2017 NFL season. Highlights and recap of the game are below
The 2017 NFL season began on Sunday and the Detroit Lions kicked off Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. While the Lions enjoyed a trip to the playoff last year in a surprise run, the Cards were less fortunate as they were potential contenders who vastly underperformed last season. Subsequently, both teams had a lot on the line coming into the game.
Early on, it looked like the Cardinals on the road might run away with things. Despite shaky play from veteran quarterback Carson Palmer and David Johnson not running well, they still pulled out to an early lead. A big part of that was thanks to their defense. Not only were they able to stuff Matthew Stafford and company, but were also able to notch a pick-six when Justin Bethel returned one for 82 yards in the first quarter.
Even still, the Lions remained in the game. With a Marvin Jones touchdown catch in the second quarter and then a Matt Prater 58-yard field goal, they were able to get the score at 10-9 in favor of Arizona going into the half.
Coming out of the locker room, neither team looked particularly good. Things looked even worse when the aforementioned Johnson, an MVP candidate, had to leave the game with a wrist injury. That opened the door for the Lions and they ran through it.
With the Cards collapsing on both sides of the ball, Detroit exploded in the final 15-minute period. They put up 20 points and jumped out to a massive 35-17 lead, emphasized by a pick-six for the final score of that run. The Cardinals added a late score, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Lions fought hard and came back again to get the 35-23 win to start the year.
Highlights
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/906928806409125888
The @Lions start the season 1-0! #OnePride #AZvsDET https://t.co/JAGLxUTaRr
— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2017
Next: NFL 2017: 20 Bold predictions for Week 1
Detroit did great things during the free-agency and draft, but we’re still not sure if anything has changed. If the lions can get their running game together, they will be a more well-rounded team. This game is going to determine how the rest of the season will pan out and, if the Lions have what it takes to make a playoff run.