The one-win Detroit Lions found themselves as 12.5-point home underdogs against the first-place Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Fresh off a 38-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 14, no one really expected Jared Goff and Co. to keep pace with a Cardinals squad that is still battling for the No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.
But as we’ve learned around the NFL over the years, expect the unexpected.
The Lions opened the scoring with a field goal in the first quarter before scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter. That included two touchdown passes from Goff, culminating in a 22-yard strike to Josh Reynolds with 24 seconds remaining in the half.
As for the Cardinals, they only came close to scoring once in the first two quarters. That drive ended on a fourth-down stop by Detroit’s defense.
When all was said and done in the first half, Detroit held a 17-0 lead. The team had out-gained Arizona 238-84 with 14 first downs compared to five.
Goff vastly outplayed Kyler Murray in the first 30 minutes — completing 15-of-19 passes for 171 yards with two touchdowns against zero interceptions. It was the best half of football for the former No. 1 pick since he was acquired from the Los Angeles Rams during the offseason. Needless to say, Detroit’s first-half domination was the talk of social media.
At halftime, the Lions have an 85% chance to beat the Cardinals.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) December 19, 2021
The Lions were +500 to win outright today.
— theScore Bet (@theScoreBet) December 19, 2021
They're BLANKING the Cardinals at the half. pic.twitter.com/pHVz5Ce3JI
The Rams broke the Cardinals’ brains. pic.twitter.com/NoV5BLEqij
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) December 19, 2021
THE LIONS WANT THE NO. 1 SEED
— PFF (@PFF) December 19, 2021
pic.twitter.com/Oy50abRGXl
Lions Fans: But, I thought you got hurt?
— Joe Burrows Burgers (@BurgersBurrows) December 19, 2021
Jared Goff: pic.twitter.com/9FIQzl5SZz
Cardinals stink
— Mikal Bridges (@mikal_bridges) December 19, 2021
Over 85% of the handle @DKSportsbook was on the Cardinals pic.twitter.com/hxSZCSNlVg
— br_betting (@br_betting) December 19, 2021
When the @AZCardinals found out they could lose their playoff spot pic.twitter.com/VOz7NpWZ3x
— NIDO (@nidoneedit) December 19, 2021
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