Lions @ Cardinals
Final Score: Lions 20 – Cardinals 13
Writer: Zach Whetsel
While both teams had their frustrations on offense today, the Lions brought a smash-mouth identity to the trenches that ultimately overwhelmed Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. The Lions’ ability to grind proved a difference maker today, as they seemed happy to lean on their RBs to earn tough yards when needed, while the Cardinals were unable to get any sustained yardage out of their offense. On defense, the Cardinals were able to frustrate Jared Goff but couldn’t stop David Montgomery or Jahmyr Gibbs when it counted. While some costly penalties will need to be addressed in Detroit’s CB room, their whole defense stepped up and played tough throughout the game. Some missed opportunities prevented this game from getting out of hand, but it never felt as close as the score might suggest. The Lions played like a team in control throughout most of the match.
Three Up
- David Montgomery – The Lions love this guy, and they should. Montgomery is always going to have to work for his production, but boy does he earn it. The clear lead back when this offense is looking to grind away the clock, this is the man that they are ultimately happy to lean on the most. He will get spoon-fed valuable opportunities in this offense until the day he dies.
- Marvin Harrison, Jr – On a frustratingly quiet day from the offense as a whole, MHJ proved that he will be a focal point of this offense moving forward, even if things aren’t coming easily. MHJ looks clean at the point of every catch, runs routes like they’re effortless, and was given 11 targets from a QB that loves to create big plays. On days when one or two more of those hit, we’ll see his stat lines start to fill with multiple scores.
- Jahmyr Gibbs – The big-play spark of Detroit’s two-headed monster at RB, Gibbs showcased his versatility and burst all day for an offense that otherwise struggled to take the top off. Fantasy managers can delight in the fact that he left the game with infinite yards- and touchdowns-per-reception today after he took a hook and ladder lateral from St Brown to the house for his only receiving stats. He’s a fun player to watch in an offense that loves to use him.
Three Down
- James Conner – The Cardinals RB had a fine day himself, at least by the eye test, but was never given room nor opportunities to work behind a terrible showing from the Cardinals O-line. Instead, the offense played like even they knew they couldn’t get any push up front, punting on 4th and 1 on their second drive. Combined with taking forced deep throws to MHJ all game, the Cardinals looked more one-dimensional than they potentially needed to be. It left Connor feeling a lot less reliable than fantasy owners might wish.
- Jared Goff – Although Goff played a fine game, today highlighted how this offense tends to get away from their bread and butter, and that includes leaning too much on Goff. He is a great QB for a team built around their O-line, but when the pressure came today, he looked out of sync and often failed to deliver. It does not leave me feeling encouraged about his effectiveness in fantasy this season compared to last, even if the offense will likely be fine as a whole. The Lions currently just stumble when they try to make Goff their identity.
- Kyler Murray – I do not put Kyler on here to say this loss was his fault – he’s relatively low on my list of blame. However, I don’t think the cast around him is gelling the best, and I felt frustration out of the QB today as nothing was coming easily. It felt as though he wanted to make the comeback happen all in one play for most of the second half, and I think that mindset combined with a lack of support from the offensive coaching staff threw off his rhythm. I’d still love to see some growth out of him in keeping the offense moving. Three and outs killed the Cardinals in the second half today, and Kyler didn’t do the best in preventing them.
Detroit Lions
Quarterback
Jared Goff: 18/23 passing, 199 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT | 3 carries, 6 yards
Jared looked like a gazelle out there tonight as he ran for the first down to seal the game. In fact, that’s how Jared looks just about any time he moves. It’s a good thing the offensive line in Detroit is so good, because pressure is not a pretty thing for Goff to try and handle. After a fine, solid night overall, Goff gets to go home with another win under his belt. He moved the ball when the offense needed it, helped to put up 20 points by throwing two passing TDs, and managed to avoid throwing the game away for the Lions (thankfully, his poor checkdown-for-a-pick didn’t sink them in the fourth). I’m a fan of Goff’s, but the Lions are a running team, and everyone knows it. Quiet games are what they love from the QB position right now as they work to get the ball moving a little more smoothly.
Notes
- Goff made the plays that were needed to keep his offense on the field, which cannot be said for his opponent. While the Lions were shut out in the second half, they also managed to run 68 plays to the Cardinals’ 53, and that type of consistency out of Goff is exactly what these Lions need. He did his job and got his team the win, and now it’s on to the next one. However, this was the third game in a row where it didn’t feel like the offense wanted to be designed around their QB. Don’t expect a top-ten fantasy season out of him based on what he’s shown through three weeks- this just isn’t his team to carry.
Missed Opportunities
- Goff missed on a shot to Jameson Williams, which would have saved the receiver’s day from disaster. Such is the life of a big-play threat, especially on a night when the volume wasn’t there across the entire passing offense. Goff panicked on his lone interception late in the day, throwing to a covered TE on the check down, letting the ball get snatched away by the Cardinals. Other than those two mistakes, which thankfully were contained instances that didn’t snowball into anything worse, Goff played a clean and quiet game.
Running Back
David Montgomery: 23 carries, 105 yards, 1 TD | 3/3 receiving, 17 yards
Montgomery is the rock of this offense. When they need tough yards to grind out first downs and ultimately win, he is the one they lean on, and he is always up for the challenge. David Montgomery runs like he’s David vs. Goliath on every carry – tough and mean and always looking to break the next tackle, he feasted today behind an offensive line that proved a difference maker against this Cardinals unit.
Notes
- Montgomery tied Goff for first on the team in how many times he touched the rock today and was the preferred option when the offense was sputtering. Look to him to keep up the good work and be an every-week starter with a rock-solid floor in any fantasy format.
Jahmyr Gibbs: 16 carries, 83 yards | 0/0 receiving, 20 yards, 1 TD
With an infinitely impressive day today, Gibbs becomes the first player in my memory to take a catch to the house on a day where he received no targets. Again, Gibbs is the lightning to Montgomery’s thunder in this offense, and the big plays will very often come through him. Today, a few did, and he earned a healthy workload even with a low passing volume and a ground-based grinding approach more suited to Montgomery.
Notes
- Based on his excellent play day in and day out, you’d expect today to have been a little more fruitful for Gibbs. Of course, the offense as a whole did not have their highest scoring output today, but it’s certainly nice to see him being the benefactor of at least one of their three touchdowns on the day. Gibbs did his job and will continue to eat, hopefully more, in future weeks.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Amon-Ra St Brown: 7/8 receiving, 75 yards, 1 TD
Amon-Ra fantasy owners can breathe a sigh of relief as he retook his spot as the top target earner for the Detroit offense this week. Although it was still a relatively low-volume attack for the stud WR, he made the most of his opportunities and demonstrated the solidity of his floor in this offense. Amon-Ra seemed to be the clear preferred target for his QB on a day when things were struggling to connect through the air and reliability was all the offense was looking for.
Notes
- Ben Johnson, the Lions offensive coordinator, seemed more than happy today to take the ball out of Goff’s hands and let the offense grind things out on the ground. Amon-Ra returned to his role from last season as the primary earner of the limited but valuable targets this offense can provide and proved why he’s the one to count on. Just like Montgomery, Amon-Ra will always earn his keep when the ball comes his way. Fantasy owners can rest easy knowing that he has that role.
Jameson Williams: 1/3 receiving, 9 yards | 1 rush, -7 yards
Jameson Williams truthers, on the other hand, must feel rudely awakened by this game. After seeing production drop but target share go up in last week’s game, it felt as though many thought Jameson Williams might be carving out an impressive role for himself in the core movements of this offense. Today, that all came crumbling down – 2 total yards on 2 total touches made for an ugly day for the young breakout wide receiver.
Notes
- Jameson just was not someone the Lions looked to get particularly involved in the offense this afternoon. After it became clear early that the Cardinals’ defense had come to play, the Lions decided to avoid giving the game away and force the Cardinals to take it, which was not something they proved capable of doing. As such, other than on one big missed play early, the offense never attempted to use Williams in any particularly meaningful way.
Missed Opportunities
- As I said above, Goff missed Jameson on a deep shot in the third that could have saved the day for the receiver, but the offensive coaches seemed content to let the running game do the dirty work rather than try forcing it downfield. It just was not a great game script for Williams, so the one miss hurt more than it often would.
Sam LaPorta: 2/2 receiving, 36 yards
LaPorta left just before halftime after getting his leg rolled on while blocking for Detroit’s third touchdown. He hobbled off the field under his own power, was carted to the locker room, then came back in to start the second half. However, he was clearly limping and was taken off again, and that about sealed his night. Another quiet day from a player that many were hoping would be able to buck that trend coming in. Unfortunately, it just becomes tough to evaluate his night with an injury like that. The team did not want or need to use him. Provided he’s ok, expect more in the future. All you can do is hold and hope!
Brock Wright: 4/5 receiving, 34 yards
Wright looks like a backup TE, so I wouldn’t expect targets to be funneled his way any time soon. He’s a fine option, but not particularly compelling, and if this offense is going to throw the ball, they generally have much better options ahead of Wright. However, he did earn all of the receiving work left on the table by LaPorta’s injury at the position. If LaPorta ever goes out for more time, you can expect similar stats from Wright as what you saw today.
Tim Patrick: 1/1 receiving, 8 yards
It seems Tim Patrick is technically WR3 on this offense, although in reality, that makes him target #5 on a run-first team. He would need a significant number of injuries ahead of him to be fantasy-relevant, although he did secure his lone target today.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Kyler Murray: 21/34 passing, 207 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT | 5 rushes, 45 yards
On a day when Kyler was responsible for the only offense the Cardinals could truly muster, it just wasn’t enough. He didn’t play particularly poorly, but Murray’s penchant for shooting for the big plays every snap hurt his ability to stay on the field for long. Now, the offensive play calling and the uninspiring run game did him no favors either, but Kyler needs to find his groove and keep the ball moving downfield, or this offense will not score points.
Notes
- Kyler made the most of his legs during the first three quarters of the game today, avoiding sacks and running for 45 yards on 5 attempts. It was nice to see him frustrating an otherwise dominant Detroit defensive front, but he failed to maintain that approach in the fourth quarter, and the chains stopped moving. It felt like Kyler forgot he could run and only wanted to throw down the sideline to MHJ, which stopped being productive once Detroit’s corners stopped committing penalties and stuck to playing solid defense. You could just feel the frustration from Kyler as the game went on, and the offense couldn’t earn their yards in the same way that Detroit was able to.
Missed Opportunities
- Kyler threw several balls a bit too high for MHJ tonight, and a couple for Michael Wilson also sailed over his receiver’s head. While they were the only two who were supporting him out there, it felt like Kyler was a touch off with some of his lofted passes tonight, and it meant they weren’t given a chance on a couple of plays where opportunities might have been there. The interception was also on Kyler, who launched the ball deep downfield into the end zone midway through the game, ignoring a waiting Kerby Joseph for the Lions and hoping MHJ could bail him out. Although it wasn’t the worst night for Murray, and it wasn’t his fault that the team lost, he needs to play within himself and take what is there more often.
Running Back
James Conner: 9 carries, 17 yards | 1/1 receiving, 8 yards
Conner looked fine tonight, but due to poor play calling, a poor game script, and poor offensive line play, he never had any real chance to get anything going. It just was not in the ‘Cards’ for him tonight. Hopefully, against teams that are less dedicated to low-scoring, gritty game scripts, the Cardinals’ offense can find a way to open things up more, giving Conner more room to run. For now, you’ll have to live with limited usage and a poor showing.
Trey Benson: 2 carries, 8 yards
Trey Benson had one of my favorite “runs you’ll never see because it didn’t go anywhere” today, in which he leaped and bounced off multiple defenders en route to a 4 or 5 yard gain. Again, this run doesn’t light up the box score, but boy, did he look good doing it. Even though he’s getting even less usage than his counterpart right now, he looked motivated to keep his legs churning, and that’s all you can hope for right now. Better days and more opportunities will come for the young gun.
Emari Demercado: 2 carries, 7 yards
Even though he had two carries to tie Trey Benson in usage today, he looks to be the 3rd option in the room. He was not used in important moments and didn’t do anything nearly as impressive as Benson in his two opportunities. However, if injury were to strike, his role could be valuable on the right night. Not against the Lions, though – he was a non-factor.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Marvin Harrison Jr: 5/11 receiving, 64 yards, 1 TD
Marvin Harrison Jr looks to have all the talent in the world, and yet I felt like there was so much more out there today than what he brought in. Kyler proved today that he will hyper-focus Marv in situations where they need to create big plays, and with a little more luck, more of the throws would have connected today. As it stood, it was a good day still, and if this is the new floor for Marvin Harrison Jr rather than his Week 1 performance, any fantasy manager should be happy.
Notes
- Kyler seemed intent on hitting Marv on every deep shot attempt the offense tried in the second half, and there were a lot of them. Of course, this meant they felt somewhat predictable, and Terrion Arnold for the Lions had a good day defending Marvin Harrison Jr after he stopped penalizing him. Furthermore, Kyler seemed a bit off on some of his targets today, so there were a couple that were just a bit too high for Marv to get. It truly felt like a game where he could’ve blown up again if the team had some more offensive direction overall. It was a very encouraging sign to see Kyler relying on Marv regardless.
Missed Opportunities
- Marvin Harrison Jr did have a couple of balls that felt catchable in his slew of second-half targets from Kyler that he just didn’t bring in. They were contested, and none were easy catches that he straight-out dropped, but I would’ve liked to have seen the greatest wide receiver prospect in the past few years pull one or two more in that he didn’t, and it would’ve taken him from a solid day to a great one. It almost felt to me that Harrison is so talented he’s working on easy mode and lets some things slip by because of that. Of course, I’m not dumping on him here – he did good work today in a sloppy and frustrating game overall for the Cardinals offense.
Michael Wilson: 8/9 receiving, 64 yards
While Michael Wilson won’t ever be a game-breaker, he is an extremely reliable option for Kyler and one of the only ones that showed up today. He deserves his dues as one of the only guys who seemed to consistently move the chains today, catching everything that was thrown to him and creating nice plays underneath to keep the offense on track. If only he were a little taller, he might be capable of more, but as it stands, he’s a good receiving option for the Cardinals and fantasy teams alike.
Missed Opportunities
- Wilson did have one pass that Kyler sailed over his head late where he had broken free in the second level – it wouldn’t have been a touchdown, but it felt like Kyler was a little high on his ball placement all day, and that was the one pass to Wilson that suffered from the issue. The Cardinals were in a tough spot trying to claw their way back into the game in the second half, and a big play from Michael Wilson would’ve gone a long way toward helping.
Trey McBride: 3/6 receiving, 25 yards
Trey McBride had a quiet day today and left the game in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a concussion. Unfortunately, it was an ugly play on McBride’s part, as he lowered his helmet into the helmet of Lions’ safety Brian Branch, injuring him as well. It capped off what was shaping up to be a quiet night for McBride, ending in extreme disappointment in the outing as a whole. Assuming he comes back healthy next week, you’d love to see Kyler target McBride more in an attempt to work the middle of the field, but the offense was just as out-of-sync as the young TE all night. As one of the only tight ends that had seemed reliable so far this fantasy season, we just have to hope McBride comes back healthy soon and with a more focal role in the offense.
Greg Dortch: 3/6 receiving, 35 yards
Greg Dortch could have a valuable role in this offense as a YAC/screen receiver and short-game merchant, but he had a case of the dropsies tonight. He will never be the beneficiary of a load of targets on this team either, especially as Kyler looks more comfortable leaning on MHJ to get the offense going, so he, unfortunately, sits as the fourth option on a team with consistency issues. If the team can’t figure out how to do the small things right, and Dortch contributes to that problem with drops, he’s not a player I’m particularly interested in for fantasy purposes. It remains to be seen if that continues to be a problem for Dortch, but the offense looks to have a ways to go before it’s firing on all cylinders anyway.
Elijah Higgins: 1/1 receiving, 11 yards
A small tight end and more of a receiver than a blocker, Higgins seems to have a dedicated role in relief of McBride, so it wouldn’t be the worst idea to take a look here if McBride misses time from his concussion. However, he still would not see plays designed for him, and his only hope for production would come as one of the final options in an offense with Harrison, Wilson, and Dortch still leading the way. He’s a mildly interesting second-year player if McBride stays out, but I wouldn’t hope for too much. As of now, he still needs to prove his role if McBride is out.