For about six drives, Sunday’s game between the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions looked like it was shaping into a defensive battle. And then, it crumbled into blowout territory — as games far too often have in recent iterations of this Cardinals team.
Arizona’s offense engineered a lengthy scoring drive after pummeling Lions QB Jared Goff. After that, they went silent through the meat of the contest, and the defensive floodgates opened.
When all was said and done, Cardinals fans were forced to stare at one of the more lopsided final scores of the 2026 season — a 45-21 loss to former offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.
Cardinals’ defense bullied by former OC
It looked like defensive coordinator Nick Rallis might have had a beat on his former coworker’s offense in the early going. Detroit went three-and-out on its first three drive for a net of -9 yards.
But then, the explosives began to stack. The Lions managed a touchdown on their fourth drive, and went on to score on every following drive until their final possession of the game.
The Cardinals’ defense struggled in coverage against Goff, giving up 271 yards and three touchdowns through the air, including explosives of 39, 38 and 36 — something that had been previously lacking from Petzing’s offense in Detroit.
Arizona’s run defense was even worse; they allowed Jahmyr Gibbs to run wild for 151 yards and two scores, averaging six yards per carry. The Lions converted all four of their fourth-down attempts, scoring touchdowns on two of them.
It was simply a defensive disaster by Arizona — the worst such performance of the year. They gave up 24 points in the second quarter alone, and surrendered a total of 412 offensive yards.
And their offense did them few favors, as well.
Cardinals’ offense stagnant vs Lions
Sunday’s game was the first of the post-Marvin Harrison Jr. era. The third-year wideout was inactive after it was reported he’d be heading to the Houston Texans in an ill-advised trade.
Whether or not Harrison’s presence made a massive impact on Sunday specifically, Arizona’s offense was poor throughout.
They could not run the football — Jeremiyah Love got only 12 carries for a meager 22 yards, which led the team. Their banged-up offensive line provided little running room and little protection for QB Jacoby Brissett. They produced 11 total yards and no points in the four drives following their game-opening touchdown.
Brissett, himself, played poorly. He struggled with accuracy, completing 29 of 47 attempts. It wasn’t until the game was well out of reach that the Cardinals managed two more scoring drives, which upped Brissett’s passing yardage to 292 with three scores. Trey McBride had one, and newly-elevated TE Teagan Quitoriano had two, sonehow.
But as it often has been, it was too little, too late. Something has to change, and soon.
Changes must be on the horizon for Cardinals
For head coach Mike LaFleur, this is only week five of his first season behind the helm of an NFL team. Grace will be extended to him, as it should.
For much of the rest of this organization, 2026’s issues are nowhere close to brand-new. This game signified Monti Ossenfort’s 40th loss as GM. It signified Brissett’s 15th loss in 17 starts. It was Rallis’ fourth consecutive game of 30-plus points allowed defensively.
Something needs to change — does it mean a new quarterback (perhaps Carson Beck?) a new GM, a new defensive coordinator? Anything and everything should be on the table going forward.
To call for sweeping alterations to personnel and staff is no longer an overreaction at this stage of the Cardinals’ ineptitude. It’s constant, consistent and lacks nuance. They lose games the same ways they always have, and seem to keep plugging along without taking any sort of drastic measures.
This simply cannot continue, or double-digit losses will become a perennial expectation. They’re already mostly there.