5 Takeaways from Lions' 30-12 Victory Over Cardinals
Heading into their Week 15 contest, the Arizona Cardinals had everything to play for, while the Detroit Lions were simply playing out the string and exploring any avenue they could to field the best possible roster.
After dealing with two weeks of illness and injury that ravaged the Lions' roster, the Lions played like a squad that was on the verge of clinching a division title.
Behind a strong and dominant rushing attack, the Lions gave the home crowd something to cheer loudly about, as they defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 30-12.
Here are five takeaways from Detroit's Week 15 victory at Ford Field.
Craig "Netflix" Reynolds earns start for Lions, shows promise
One aspect of the Lions' offense that has emerged over the past several weeks has been the consistent rushing attack.
Reynolds earned the starting nod against Arizona, and quickly proved why the coaching staff has been willing to increase his workload in the absence of Jamaal Williams and D'Andre Swift.
In the first half, Reynolds rushed for 59 yards on 14 carries, including a long of 27 yards.
Detroit used its opening drive, led by Reynolds, to shave nearly 9:00 off the clock, before taking an early 3-0 lead.
With the run game working, Anthony Lynn and Co. were able to execute a couple of explosive plays in the passing game.
Early in the fourth quarter, Reynolds secured his first career 100-yard rushing performance.
The Detroit rookie passed Mel Farr (170) for the second-most rushing yards by a Lion in his first two games with the organization.
The only player with more rushing yards in their first two games as a Lion was Billy Sims, who recorded 287 back in 1980.
Jared Goff connects with multiple wideouts for touchdown scores
All season long, Goff and the Lions were booed off of the field at halftime.
On Sunday, after finally heading to the locker room with a comfortable lead of 17-0, Goff and the team was cheered on as they headed off for the break.
Detroit's signal-caller stood in, and weathered multiple roughing-the-passer penalties in the first half, but still was able to find wideouts Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds for touchdown throws.
After missing one play in the second quarter, Goff returned to loud cheers, as the home crowd showed appreciation for the 27-year-old's toughness.
Arizona questionably incurred several roughing-the-passer penalties that aided Detroit in its efforts offensively.
© Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK
Raj Mehta, USA TODAY Sports
Amon-Ra St. Brown has arrived
Detroit's 2021 fourth-round pick has now produced at least four receptions in six straight games.
With his Week 15 performance in the books, St. Brown now has nine games with four or more receptions this season, which passes wideouts Roy Williams and Titus Young for the most such games by a rookie in franchise history.
On the first play of the second quarter, Goff found St. Brown streaking wide open for a 37-yard touchdown that gave Detroit a 10-0 lead.
St. Brown was targeted heavily, and showed the sure-handedness and elusiveness that has given the Lions' coaching staff and Goff increased trust in featuring him in this offense.
Raj Mehta, USA TODAY Sports
Outside linebacker Charles Harris has likely earned hefty raise
With two early sacks, Harris passed the productivity he had in his first four seasons in the league combined.
The 26-year-old now has more sacks this season (8.0) than the 6.5 he recorded in his first four years in the league.
Harris signed a one-year contract with Detroit worth $1.75 million this past offseason, after playing with the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons early in his career.
Aaron Glenn's defense pressured and confused standout quarterback Kyler Murray all afternoon.
Cornerback Amani Oruwariye continued his stellar season, as he recorded his sixth interception of the season. The tally is the most from a Lions defensive back since Darius Slay back in 2017.
Oruwariye's 50-yard interception return set Detroit up deep in Cardinals territory.
Goff went on to find fullback Jason Cabinda for a 6-yard touchdown reception that extended Detroit's lead to 24-3 halfway through the third quarter.
© Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK
Matt Prater not welcomed back by Lions fans
Fans certainly do have short memories.
Prater spent the past seven seasons (2014-2020) in Detroit, and was quite productive.
After a down season in 2020, Prater signed with the Cardinals in the offseason.
“I didn’t feel like I thought he had slipped at all, really," special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said earlier this week. "I personally felt like he had missed some kicks the year before here. I didn’t think that was all necessarily just him. So, yeah, I felt strongly about him."
On Sunday, fans loudly booed the veteran kicker on both his field-goal tries at his old stomping grounds.
