It’s not a stretch to say the Detroit Lions looked done after the first quarter in last week's game against the Arizona Cardinals.
And not just done for the game – done for the season, no Super Bowl, no playoffs, no chance of overcoming what was sure to be a 2-3 start heading into the Week 6 bye.
That now looks like hyperbole after Detroit’s dominant 45-21 win over the Cardinals, one in which the Lions scored on seven straight possessions and held Arizona to five consecutive three-and-outs.
But coming off a demoralizing Sunday Night Football loss to the Carolina Panthers the week before, going down 7-0 to a subpar Cardinals team on the road looked like the end of the road for a Lions team sporting the worst defense in the league by total yards
allowed. Two straight losses to teams who finished last season with sub-.500 records would have dialed the panic meter up to 11 for this loaded Lions team, one that had yet to come even close to reaching its standard this season.
Fifteen minutes of game time later, however, the Lions had a 24-7 lead, fully in control and looking like the best version of themselves.
So … what happened after the first quarter?
There isn’t just one thing that turned the tide in the Lions’ favor, of course, with several key coaching decisions, individual performances and lapses from the opponent bending the momentum toward Detroit. But the film reveals a few interesting distinctions that made the Lions look like a totally different team after the first quarter.
A first-quarter disaster
The Lions immediately had issues in the trenches that led to a three-and-out on their first drive. Offensive lineman Penei Sewell and Christian Mahogany each blocked Cardinals defensive end Walter Nolan II on a Jahmyr Gibbs running play on the first play from scrimmage, one that only went for a short gain. It’s possible the Cardinals recognized this, because two plays later on third-and-5 from the Detroit 36, the Cardinals sent safety Budda Baker on the inside blitz. Sewell and Mahogany each took edge rusher Josh Sweat, allowing both Baker and linebacker Mack Wilson to run free through the A-gap.
Running back Sione Vaki then picked up Wilson, but there was no one to pick up Baker, who sacked quarterback Jared Goff for a 12-yard loss.
Budda was alll over that 😤#DETvsAZ | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/LEKgt21DHg
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 11, 2026
Things didn’t look much better on defense for the Lions.
Arizona’s first play from scrimmage was a tone-setter. Lions linebackers Derrick Barnes and Jack Campbell both blitz, leaving room in the middle of the field for a short completion to All-Pro tight end Trey McBride. And because the first player to meet him is rookie Keith Abney, who is 60 pounds lighter than the tight end, McBride rumbles for an extra 8 yards after the catch for a first down.
Arizona then used McBride’s gravity to create space up the middle on several plays on this drive.
The biggest one came on third-and-11 from their own 49-yard line, where McBride lined up wide, ran to the flat to stretch Campbell toward the sideline, allowing quarterback Jacoby Brissett to hit receiver Kendrick Bourne for a 22-yard gain in the middle of the field.
Three plays later, McBride ran a deep route to give Michael Wilson space for an 8-yard catch and a third-down conversion.
Three plays after that, on another third-down conversion, McBride garnered more attention from Campbell and the secondary to create space for another Bourne completion. McBride was open as well on the 2-yard touchdown pass off play-action that went to reserve tight end Teagen Quitoriano, who dusted linebacker Malcom Rodriguez.
That's @teaganquito14 in the endzone for 6️⃣#DETvsAZ | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/G2vk11fRCU
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 11, 2026
The Cardinals completed a 14-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock.
The Lions went three-and-out two more times in the first quarter, ending the quarter without a first down. Ex-Lion Roy Lopez sacked Goff on the first play of the second possession, and Baron Browning strip-sacked Goff on the next possession that gained just 1 yard. The Lions had minus-9 yards on nine plays after the first quarter.
But the defense responded with two straight three-and-outs as well.
From there, the Lions played nearly perfect.
Lions stars ball out
After successfully getting pressure on the Lions in the first quarter, the Cardinals blitzed less in the second quarter, often rushing four on first and second downs. That could be because the Cardinals don’t blitz – they entered with a 23.6% blitz rate (23rd in the NFL per Sharp Football Analysis). That could also be because Baker appeared to get hurt on a play while covering receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the second quarter, with Arizona leaving him mostly in pass coverage as a result.
But the biggest reason is likely because of the Lions' playmakers.
Blitzing puts pressure on the coverage, and the Lions have dynamic players all over the field with St. Brown, Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams, plus Isaac TeSlaa has made big plays.
In the second quarter, it was LaPorta who shined on three key conversions.
The first came on a fourth-and-3 from the Arizona 47-yard line. The Lions went four-wide, with Goff looking right hoping to connect with Williams on an out-route or St. Brown on a curl. With both covered, Goff looked up the middle and found LaPorta with just inches of separation from his defender. Goff squeezed the ball between two defenders and LaPorta took a hit while securing the catch for a first down.
Most tight ends don’t make that catch. LaPorta does because he’s that good, and three plays later the Lions tied the game on a Gibbs touchdown run.
LaPorta was the catalyst on the next offensive drive, as well, catching a ball in the flat on third-and-12 right at the line of scrimmage with safety Wydett Williams Jr. in front of him. It should have ended as a short gain, but LaPorta shed Williams to pick up 11 yards while diving for the first-down marker.
On fourth-and-1 at the Arizona 37, the Lions sent Brock Wright in motion to the right and ran a play-action to Gibbs. Two Cardinals went to the sideline with Wright, leaving LaPorta wide open down the sideline for an easy catch-and-run touchdown for the lead. Gibbs did well in pass pro to give Goff the time to let LaPorta leak out.
There goes Sam pic.twitter.com/jWOW1mJVFT
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 11, 2026
There was more individual brilliance throughout this quarter.
Tom Kennedy and St. Brown each had big punt returns to give the offense shorter fields on touchdown drives. Goff’s fourth-down pass to Williams over two defenders in the end zone couldn’t have been placed more perfectly. Gibbs broke a couple of explosive runs behind Sewell and another where he gained 16 yards while shedding three tacklers.
But it wasn’t just the offense that stepped up in the second quarter. The defense found its footing, with one particular star showing why he’s an All-Pro.
Jack Campbell, the All-Pro
The Cardinals scored in the first quarter by using McBride as a decoy, drawing defenders out of the middle of the field to leave space for Brissett to find receivers on short passes. It’s a similar strategy to what the Carolina Panthers did the week before, with pre-snap movement and run-pass options getting Detroit’s linebackers out of position. It was a timing game for quarterback Bryce Young from there, and he torched the Lions defense with quick completions up the middle of the field, mostly to Tetairoa McMillan (14 catches, 192 yards).
How did the Lions fix that against Arizona? The box score reveals excellent pass coverage from cornerback Roger McCreary (a career-high six passes defended) and five sacks from a stout defensive line. The film reveals disguised coverages and blitz packages that threw off Arizona’s timing. But both the play sheet and the tape reveal something a bit simpler: Jack Campbell was everywhere.
Campbell, off to a slow start this season, led the Lions with 11 combined tackles, just the second time this season he recorded double-digit tackles (after reaching that mark nine times in 2025). But he was more than just a run-stopper on Sunday, and one drive exemplified that.
After LaPorta’s second-quarter touchdown that gave the Lions a 14-7 lead, the Cardinals started on their own 29-yard line. They tried a play-action rollout with McBride slipping from his block and facing Brissett as a checkdown option down the middle. But with the Lions in man coverage, Campbell stuck to McBride, with McCreary making another good play down the field to force the incompletion.
The next play was a run to rookie No. 3 overall pick Jeremiyah Love, with Campbell immediately engaged by offensive guard Jon Gaines. Love picked up 5 yards before Abney wrapped him up, and when Love slipped out of Abney’s grasp, Campbell finished the tackle.
On third down, Campbell stormed through the A-gap and bulldozed Love to force Brissett into a bad throw and another three-and-out.
(On the one touchdown McBride caught in garbage time, Campbell was in great coverage, and it took a circus catch for McBride to haul in the pass.)
Trey McBride somehow makes the grab for the TD 😳
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 11, 2026
📺: FOX/FOX One pic.twitter.com/GwP9zr7VDe
A lot of Arizona’s offensive drives looked like this, with Campbell sticking close to McBride, punishing runs up the middle and applying pressure in the backfield. No quarterback hits, no tackles for loss and no passes defended for Campbell in the box score, but for the first time this season, he finally looked like an All-Pro linebacker.
That’s great news for the Lions, whose issues at linebacker had been overshadowed by major problems in the secondary. Campbell’s re-emergence could help steady the defense.
This doesn’t mean the Lions are fixed, of course. The Lions will have a huge task against the deep passing game of the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Jordan Love, hopefully with safety Brian Branch back on the field.
We also need to see how the Lions respond against the heavy blitz packages of the Minnesota Vikings, as the Cardinals defense seemed to work best when rushing more than four. But after a pitiful first quarter, the Lions responded with a near-perfect second quarter, showing exactly why they entered the season as a popular playoff pick once again.
If they can show similar quality over the next two games against better opponents and build on it through the rest of the season, those Super Bowl aspirations may not be so out-of-reach, after all.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Lions leaned on stars to turn the game – and maybe the season
