Odds Lions Beat Cardinals in Week 3

Predicting Lions' odds to beat Cardinals in Week 3.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff passes against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of the Lions' 30-12 win Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021, at Ford Field in Detroit. Lions Ariz / Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

On Sunday, the Lions travel to the desert to take on Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals are coming off a 41-10, blowout victory over Matthew Stafford and the L.A. Rams. Murray delivered a strong performance in the Week 2 contest, completing 17-of-21 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He also contributed another 59 yards as a runner.

Meanwhile, Arizona running back James Conner and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. each had monstrous games in the NFC West divisional affair. Conner finished with 21 carries for 122 yards and a score, while Harrison caught four balls for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Overall, Murray and the Cardinals are playing some great football on the offensive side of the ball. Through two weeks, the sixth-year passer has recorded the second-best QBR in the NFL (91.3). Plus, he's helped Arizona produce the second-most points in the league (69).

Murray is very much a dual-threat passer, with the ability to make plays with his legs. In fact, he's scored at least three rushing touchdowns in each of his first five NFL seasons. He'll be a handful to handle for Aaron Glenn's defense, whose kryptonite in recent memory has been stopping mobile quarterbacks.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell understands just how “dangerous” the elusive Cardinals signal-caller can be. 

“And the fact they’ve incorporated under center with it and the heavy runs with boots off of it, really hard action, get him out of the pocket completely, let him see the field, and if it’s not there, you see what he can do with his feet,” the fourth-year head man said of Murray. “So, I just think it’s good, man, it’s allowed them to really control the game. They can control the game if you let them, and I think it’s been good for him. It’s right up his alley. I mean, he got a perfect quarterback rating. So, I just think it fits him well. I think they’re still using the things that he can create problems out of the gun, the read run, the sone run stuff. But, then they can just downhill beat you up if they want.

“I don't know how many missed sacks, missed tackles he avoided last week. I hadn’t counted them up yet, but that’ll be a project for me tonight because it was unbelievable. I mean, it’s just time after time after time. So, he’s dangerous, man. He’s dangerous.”

Then, on the opposite side of the ball, Arizona possesses the game's 17th-ranked defense, having allowed 44 points through two weeks. Along with that, the Cardinals seem more prone to allowing the big pass play (7.3 yards allowed per pass attempt), than the big play on the ground (just 3.5 yards permitted per rush attempt). Additionally, Arizona's defense, led by coordinator Nick Rallis, has yet to record a single interception. 

This all should bode well for Lions signal-caller Jared Goff, who is in dire need of a strong performance after subpar displays in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.

Goff, who last played against the Cardinals in December 2021 (his first season with Detroit), has solid career numbers against the Murray-led team. In nine career games vs. Arizona, he's thrown for 2,455 yards and 14 touchdowns, as opposed to just three interceptions. Plus, he's won eight of those nine starts.

Coming off a shoddy Week 2 outing in which he threw multiple interceptions, the veteran Lions passer is well aware that he needs to play a cleaner brand of football Sunday. 

“I have to do a better job of taking care of the ball on some of those situations and keep us on the field, not put the ball in harm’s way. But, overall, we did move the ball pretty well (against Tampa Bay), and I think building off that will be the way we want to go this week,” Goff told reporters. 

It won't be an easy task for Detroit to limit the production of Murray, especially if Glenn's unit has to attempt to do it without linebacker Alex Anzalone (concussion). Yet, it still feels like this road trip to Arizona offers the Lions a decent chance to get off the schneid and avoid dropping two straight contests for the first time since 2022.

At this present juncture, I'll give Detroit a 52 percent chance to capture the Week 3 win.