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Azcentral sports NFL writer Bob McManaman offers his postgame grades.

Rushing offense            D

Arizona finished with just 45 total yards on the ground and none of it was pretty. The Lions’ defensive front was ferocious and when the Cardinals’ offensive line opened holes, they either closed immediately or David Johnson, who left with a wrist injury, danced around too many times to hit them. The running game will suffer an insurmountable dilemma if Johnson is sidelined for any serious length of time.

Rushing defense          C+

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t up to the Cardinals’ expectations, either. Detroit rushed for 82 yards. The good news is no Lions player gained more than 30 yards on the ground. Linebackers Haason Reddick and Josh Bynes delivered a few bone-rattling hits, but there weren’t enough of those. Karlos Dansby (seven tackles) was steady.

Passing offense            D

Given that Carson Palmer only threw for one touchdown – and it came with the game already well in hand for the Lions – you can’t justify giving this unit a higher grade than this. Palmer threw three picks, including one that was returned for a touchdown, and there were far too many dropped passes. Palmer seemed too jittery, though, and missed a lot of opportunities underneath the coverage. John Wetzel held his own after starting left tackle D.J. Humphries left with a right knee injury, but where was Jaron Brown? He wasn’t even targeted once.

Passing defense           D

The pass rush never got there as Matthew Stafford was sacked only once (Chandler Jones) and had enough time to complete 29 passes for 292 yards and four touchdowns. Justin Bethel, after a brilliant 82-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the game, got burned twice in the fourth-quarter for backbreaking scores by Lions rookie receiver Kenny Golladay. Safety Tyvon Branch stood out with 11 tackles, but Tyrann Mathieu (two solo tackles) was pretty much invisible.

Special teams              C+

This would have been a higher grade had Phil Dawson not clanged a 32-yard field goal attempt off the left upright late in the first half. Then again, this unit overall looked pretty decent because of how bad the Lions’ special teams played, especially in the first half. Detroit struggled a ton, be it on punts, punt returns, and point-after attempts. Arizona’s new punter, Andy Lee, was impressive and Kerwynn Williams averaged 23 yards on kickoff returns, but the coverage teams weren’t very good other that Ifeanyi Momah blowing up Casey Redfern and knocking Detroit’s punter out of the game after a botched snap forced him to try and run the ball out of the end zone.

Coaching                          C

The Cardinals couldn’t or wouldn’t harass Stafford enough in obvious passing situations and it took too long for the offense to re-establish any footing when it became painfully clear they couldn’t run the ball between the tackles. Play calling helped Palmer to finally begin utilizing his open underneath targets, but only after the Lions had surged ahead. Bottom line, the Cardinals had a 17-9 lead late in the third quarter and looked helpless in watching the Lions scores 26 unanswered points.

MORE CARDINALS: Cards still can’t maintain leads or win close games

MORE CARDINALS: Low grades for Cardinals stars in loss to Lions

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