By admin 
Three of the Arizona Cardinals’ first four games were played somewhere else, and the lone home date was a 31-7 loss to Seattle. State Farm Stadium gets a longer look Sunday against a Detroit Lions team still sorting through overreactions to a Carolina loss and a 2-2 start.
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Arizona has dropped three in a row, and the Lions have the better record and the hotter quarterback. There is still a real case for the home team. Here are two reasons the Cardinals win and three reasons they do not.
Reasons Cardinals will beat Lions in Week 5
Detroit’s defense is last in the NFL in yards allowed and on third down.
The Lions give up 423.8 yards per game and allow conversions on 52.8 percent of third downs, and three of their four opponents have scored at least 30. Cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and defensive back Brian Branch are out for Sunday, and the need is plain enough that a cornerback trade has been floated. D.J. Reed, who has played the most snaps among Detroit’s corners, has allowed 13 catches on 20 targets through Week 4, according to PFF. Michael Wilson has drawn 28 targets in the past two games, and Trey McBride has 33 catches.
The Lions are 0-2 on the road and keep penalizing themselves.
Detroit lost at Buffalo and at Carolina and has been flagged 31 times in four games. Of those, 18 came on offense, including nine false starts and three delays of game. “We’ve got to play much better complementary football,” coach Dan Campbell said Monday. A Cardinals offense that has been competent through four games does not need many free yards to stay in a shootout.
Reasons Lions will beat Cardinals
A rookie left tackle with one snap at the position draws Aidan Hutchinson.
Paris Johnson Jr. is out for the season with a torn biceps, so seventh-round pick Jayden Williams starts with 18 NFL snaps behind him, 17 of them as an extra tight end. Right guard Isaiah Adams is out as well. Hutchinson has 29 pressures on 182 pass-rush snaps through Week 4, according to PFF, and Detroit’s 15 sacks rank second in the league. “Football doesn’t really seem like it’s too big for him in this league,” Jacoby Brissett said of Williams.
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Jared Goff does not give the ball away, and turnover margin is where Arizona has been best.
The Cardinals are tied for fourth in turnover margin at plus-3, the one bright spot for a team ranked 29th in points allowed. Goff has nine touchdown passes and no interceptions through four games, and the Lions have one giveaway all season. Opposing quarterbacks have a 114.9 passer rating against Arizona with 11 touchdown passes, and safety Andrew Wingard is out.
Jahmyr Gibbs has seven touchdowns and Arizona has missed 31 tackles.
The missed-tackle figure is PFF’s team total through Week 4, and linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. accounts for seven of them. Gibbs has 540 yards from scrimmage, and the Cardinals have allowed 97 points in their past three games even with the Giants’ game-ending interception return left out. “Obviously, the way the last three weeks have ended has definitely created a sense of urgency,” Brissett said this week.
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This story was originally published October 11, 2026 at 8:12 AM.