The Arizona Cardinals started the season 4-0, and have since been on a nine-game losing skid. The Cardinals finally snapped their losing streak after their 38-10 victory over the Detroit Lions.

The Detroit Lions took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter with a Mikel Leshoure 1-yard touchdown run. Arizona answered back on the ensuing drive and running back Beanie Wells punched in a five yard touchdown to tie the game up.

Arizona’s defense played extraordinarily well and inevitably led the Cardinals to victory. The Cardinals forced four turnovers: three interceptions and one fumble. Arizona picked off Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford for the first time in the second quarter. Cornerback Patrick Peterson intercepted Stafford and returned it 31 yards.

The Cardinals capitalized on that interception and Wells punched in a 1-yard run. Seconds before the end of the first-half safety Rashard Johnson intercepted Stafford and returned it for a 53 yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead going into halftime.

Cornerback Greg Toler picked off Stafford in the fourth quarter and returned it 102 yards for a score and put the Cardinals comfortably ahead 31-10. Wells put the icing on the cake with a 31-yard run with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

Wells finished the game with 67 yards along with three touchdowns.

Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley completed 14 of 21 passes for 104 yards and threw one interception. Lindley has played in five games and has yet to throw his first NFL touchdown.

As for Stafford, he completed 24 of 50 passes for 246 yards. This was Stafford’s third game this season without throwing a touchdown pass, two of those three games resulted in loses.

Star wideout Calvin Johnson may be the only reason why the Lions are still getting some attention despite a six-game losing streak. Johnson hauled in 10 receptions for 121 yards. This was his seventh consecutive game with 100+ receiving yards — he still needs 182 yards to break Jerry Rice’s NFL single season receiving yard record.

Johnson will look to get closer to Rice’s record next week as the Detroit Lions will welcome the Atlanta Falcons to Ford Field. As for the Cardinals, they will welcome the Chicago Bears.

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The Green Bay Packers improved to 7-3, escaping past NFC North rivals the Detroit Lions 24-20 at Ford Field.

Green Bay was led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who completed 19-of-27 passes for 236 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Rodgers’ first touchdown pass was in the second quarter to tight-end Jermichael Finley, to give the Packers a 7-3 lead.

Finley  caught three passes for 66 yards along with his touchdown catch. This was Finley’s first game with a touchdown since Week One against the San Francisco 49ers. His 66 receiving yards is also a season high thus far.

Detroit answered back on their next drive with a Mikel Leshoure touchdown run to regain the lead 10-7. Leshoure carried the ball 19 times for 84 yards along with his one-yard touchdown run.

Before the end of the first half quarterback Matthew Stafford dogged a Packers blitz. While trying to scramble for positive yards he was stripped by linebacker Dezman Moses, and the fumble was recovered by defensive end Mike Daniels. Green Bay kicker Mason Crosby was unable to capitalize, missing a 50-yard field goal wide left.

The Packers retook the lead 14-10 on Detroit’s first drive of the second half. On 3rd and 10 from Green Bay’s 44 yard-line,  Stafford dropped back and tried connecting with tight-end Tony Scheffler, but the ball tipped off of his finger tips and landed into safety M.D. Jennings’ hands. Jennings zoomed past the Lions for a 72 yard touchdown.

Stafford and wideout Calvin Johnson connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead 17-14. The pass somehow went right through Packers’ safety Morgan Burnett’s hands, and Johnson secured the catch.

Johnson caught five passes for 143 yards along with his score. This was Johnson’s third consecutive game with over 100+ receiving yards and his second consecutive game with a touchdown catch. Kicker Jason Hanson extended the lead 20-14 after nailing a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

On Green Bay’s ensuing drive, Rodgers led the Green Bay offense down to Detroit’s 22 yard line. On 3rd and 1, Rodgers threw the ball up to wideout Randall Cobb, who caught the pass in between two defenders for the winning touchdown. Cobb caught nine passes for 74 yards along with his touchdown. He continues to be an essential role in the Packers’ high powered offense.

The Packers’ defense stopped Stafford on the following drive, and Crosby kicked a 39-yard field goal to finish off the Lions. Green Bay will have a tough match-up next week on the road against the New York Giants. As for the Lions, they will be back in action on Thanksgiving against the Houston Texans. If the Chicago Bears lose Monday night against the 49ers, the Packers will move into 1st place of the division.

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The Detroit Lions fell behind early at Ford Field, but were lead by quarterback Matthew Stafford in their 28-24 victory.

Stafford completed 34-of-49 passes for 352 yards, three touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and one interception. His 101.7 quarterback rating and three touchdown passes was a season high for the four year quarterback. Also his rushing touchdown in the 3rd quarter was his third of the season, the most in his career thus far.

His first touchdown pass came in the 1st quarter on a six yard pass to Ryan Broyles. In the 2nd quarter, Stafford connected with Titus Young on a 46 yard bomb for his second touchdown pass. Stafford and Young connected again for the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left on the clock.

Young did an exceptionally well job catching nine passes for 100 yards along with his two touchdown catches. His role will continue to increase especially with the absence of Nate Burleson.

The Stafford and Calvin Johnson connection continues to be out of sync this season. Johnson was limited to three catches for 46 yards. Johnson only has one touchdown through seven games. Last season through seven games Johnson had 10 touchdowns.

As for the Lions run game, it continues to be extremely inconsistent. Mikel Leshoure carried the ball 10 times for 46 yards. Leshoure has not ran for 100 yards since week three against Tennessee where he earned his first start. Furthermore, his 100 yards rushing is a season best for all running backs in Detroit.

The Seahawks were led by rookie quarterback Russell Wilson who completed 25-of-35 passes for 236 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Wilson connected with wideout Sidney Rice for nine yard touchdown pass in the 2nd quarter and with tight-end Zach Miller on a 16 yard touchdown in the 4th quarter.

Marshawn Lynch averaged 8.8 yards per carry on 12 carries for 105 yards and one touchdown. Lynch punched in his second touchdown of the season in the 2nd quarter on a 77 yard breakout run.

Seattle continues to struggle away from home now, falling to 1-4 on the road. The Seahawks will face the Minnesota Vikings next week at CenturyLink Field and look to continue their home dominance.

Lions will be on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars next week as they continue to hang strong at the bottom of the NFC North division.

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The Detroit Lions are coming off their first playoff appearance since 1999. The 10-6 Lions were led by their prolific, offensive weapons Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. Stafford threw for 5,081 yards, 3rd in the NFL and threw 41 touchdowns, also 3rd in the NFL. As for his number one guy, Johnson led all receivers with 1,681 yards and was 2nd in the NFL with 16 touchdowns. The Lions were the 5th best total offense in the NFL, averaging 396.1 yards per game and were 4th in the NFL, averaging 300.9 passing yards per game.

If the Lions could get a healthy run game going, their offense would be even more of a threat. No running back on the Lions has solidified themselves as the starter because of constant injuries. Jahvid Best, who missed extensive time last season because of a concussion, is on the unable to perform list and unable to play for the first six weeks.

As for running back Mikel Leshoure, he missed all of last season with a torn left Achilles tendon. Although healthy and looking great this preseason, Leshoure will not be playing until Week 3 because of his substance-abuse suspension. With all this being said, that leaves running back Kevin Smith as the primary ball carrier, although he suffered a minor ankle set back in their third preseason game against Oakland.

Detroit was able to put up points on the scoreboard; however, they gave them up just as easily. The Lions were ranked 23rd in the NFL, allowed 367.6 yards per game and 23rd in points per game giving up 24.2.

In addition, the Lions’ offseason troubles definitely didn’t help them progress. Expect Stafford and Johnson to still be team leaders, and expect a setback especially after Chicago’s additions this offseason. The Lions have struggled against division rival’s Green Bay and Chicago the last three seasons and only have recorded 2 victories. This upcoming season may result in another 4 losses against the Packers and the Bears.

Detroit could start the season off with a 3-1 record in September; however, as the season goes on, the Lions will have a difficult time getting easy wins and could finish this season 8-8.

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The Detroit Lions were able to pull off a come-from-behind win as they beat the Carolina Panthers 49-35. This game was a tale of two halves as the Lions struggled early in the first quarter, turning the ball over on their first three possessions of the game. Matthew Stafford accounted for two of those turnovers as he threw two interceptions, and left fans wondering if his injured throwing hand was going to be a problem.

The other turnover was committed by running back Keiland Williams, which eventually led to a Cam Newton touchdown pass to Steve Smith. On Lions turnovers the Panthers were able to jump out to a 10-0 lead after the 1^st quarter. In the 2^nd quarter, Stafford settled down, found his offensive groove and managed to score 14 points off two touchdown throws to recently reacquired Kevin Smith and wide out Titus Young.

The only problem was that Newton had the Panthers offense moving up and down the field just as effectively and extending the Panther lead to 13 going into halftime. That would be the last time the Panthers would have the lead as Stafford and the Lions put on a clinic and owned the second half. In the 3^rd quarter the Lions defense didn’t allow the Panthers to cross their own 40 yard line and when they did, linebacker DeAndre Levy came up with an interception that brought a productive Panthers drive to a screeching halt.

With the defense becoming stingy and providing favorable starting position for the offense, Stafford tacked on two more touchdowns to give the Lions their first lead of the game. Early in the fourth quarter the Lions extended their lead off a Smith rushing touchdown. Smith provided unexpected positive production; he was picked up by the Lions to fill the void left by Jahvid Best who has missed three games with lingering concussion symptoms.

Down eight points, Newton had no expectations of letting this game slip through his hands; he composed an 80 yard drive culminating in a touchdown and a two point conversion to Smith to tie the game at 35. However, the combination of Stafford and Smith proved to be too much as they both scored touchdowns on the next two Lion possessions.

Stafford ended the day with five touchdowns and hopefully laying to rest that his injured hand will affect his play. The Lion faithful can only hope that this is true with the undefeated Packers coming to town next week.

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