LaPorta, Sewell Among Highest PFF-Graded Lions Against Cardinals

Reviewing Pro Football Focus Grades for Lions' win over Arizona.

Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta (87). / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

By establishing the run game early, the Detroit Lions set the tone in what was a physical slugfest against the Arizona Cardinals.

Detroit pounded the rock on its first two possessions, each of which ended in touchdowns. The Lions shed their red zone woes with touchdowns on all three trips Sunday, leading to an eventual 20-13 win to move to 2-1 on the season.

The offensive line played a big role in moving the ball down the field early. Offensive tackle Penei Sewell was the highest-graded offensive player by Pro Football Focus, earning an 84.9 overall offensive grade.

"I think it gives those guys a lot of confidence. That's something they can really sink their teeth into," said coach Dan Campbell. "I think our backs, it's one of those -- they just kind of feed off each other, David Montgomery and Gibbs and that O-line. They're able to establish the ground game and, yes, the physical side of it. It doesn't mean you're gonna have 10-yard runs every time, but you know what kind of game you're about to walk into if you're the opponent. Like this is the type of day it's gonna be. That's really what you want to establish."

The success on the ground took pressure off of Jared Goff, who was able to operate with efficiency throughout the first half. He didn't throw an incompletion until the third quarter, and finished 18-of-23 for 199 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

"The flip side of that, too, is, man, it helps Goff too," Campbell said. "I don't know if he had an incomplete pass in the first half. He was playing very efficient, he was very smart, found the checkdowns. Shots aren't there, check it down and those check downs were huge for us. There ended up being a number of those that were A-plus."

Here are the highest and lowest PFF-graded players from Sunday's game, with a minimum of 10 snaps played.

Highest PFF-graded offensive players

• RT Penei Sewell -- 84.9
• RG Kevin Zeitler -- 83.1
• TE Sam LaPorta -- 82.3
• C Frank Ragnow -- 81.3
• WR Amon-Ra St. Brown -- 79.5

Lowest PFF-graded offensive players

• LG Graham Glasgow – 61.0
• WR Jameson Williams -- 57.3
• WR Tim Patrick -- 52.2
• OT Dan Skipper -- 44.3
• FB Parker Hesse -- 42.5

Highest PFF-graded defensive players

• DE Aidan Hutchinson -- 82.2
• S Kerby Joseph -- 80.4
• DT DJ Reader -- 73.5
• LB Jack Campbell -- 70.3
• LB Derrick Barnes -- 70.0

Lowest PFF-graded defensive players

• LB Malcolm Rodriguez -- 57.5
• CB Terrion Arnold -- 52.4
• DE Josh Paschal -- 41.3
• DE Marcus Davenport -- 39.2
• LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin -- 32.8