Dansby’s defense the difference as Cardinals beat Lions 31-21

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby, front, intercepts a pass intended for Detroit Lions wide receiver Roy Williams, rear, in the fourth quarter of the Detroit Lions-Arizona Cardinals game played Sunday. Arizona beat Detroit 31-21.
No offense to Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner, who had a fine game, but the Cardinals defense, namely linebacker Karlos Dansby, put Arizona over the top, handing the Cardinals a 31-21 win over the Detroit Lions at Glendale. Dansby made a huge difference in the game as he intercepted two passes and forced a fumble. But also give credit to the Cards’ defensive line; they gave up a total of - get this - minus 18 yards in total rushing yardage. Not to mention that Detroit turned the ball over a grand total of 5 times. To illustrate the Cards’ domination, Arizona had the ball for 21 of 30 minutes during the first half.

The aforementioned Warner had a decent day, going 26-of-36 for 259 yards with 3 TD’s and 1 INT. Running back Edgerrin James ran for 60 yards on 18 carries, while wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and tight end Leonard Pope scored 2 TD’s each. Detroit’s Kitna had a good effort, going 32-for-45 for 294 yards with 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s; but to be fair, a good chunk of those numbers were when the Lions had a sizeable deficit. WR Shaun McDonald led all Lions receivers with 6 catches for 73 yards while WR Roy Williams caught 6 balls for 45 yards and 2 scores.

Arizona (4-5) play again next Sunday when they visit Cincinnati to face the Bengals, while Detroit (6-3) returns home to host the New York Giants.

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