FOUR DOWNS: Defense impresses on the road in Arizona

FIRST DOWN: DEFENSIVE DAY

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had a perfect passer rating (158.3) last week in a blowout win over the Rams. Fast forward one week and Murray (76.5) didn’t even get halfway to a perfect rating against a Lions’ defense that really stepped up to the challenge this week and helped Detroit rebound by beating the Cardinals on the road, 20-13.

“(Aaron Glenn) AG had a hell of a plan,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after the win. “I thought those guys on defense really played outstanding. I thought the three-and-outs there in the second half, the sudden change after the turnover offensively, defense takes the field and gets a huge stop, the fourth-down stop, the turnover, all of it. It was good.”

The Cardinals came into Sunday averaging 34.5 points per game but managed just 13 against the Lions and had just 277 yards of total offense, 77 yards rushing and were just 1-for-9 on third down.

“I think that was our best defensive game I’ve ever been a part of, just collectively,” Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson said. “It’s not like we were sacking the quarterback that much. But I think, with what they were giving us, we executed the game plan really well.”

After scoring 20 first-half points, the Lions’ offense slowed down in the second half but the defense came through and allowed just three points, playing terrific complementary football.

“Our defense is playing really well right now,” said quarterback Jared Goff, who finished 18-of-23 passing for 199 yards with two touchdowns and a passer rating of 113.6. “That’s three straight games where they are doing some good things. We would love to stretch that game open and make it a three-score, four-score game and end it a lot earlier than that, but they held on and made some plays for us and picked us up when we needed it and at the end of the game, we (offense) were able to close it out.”

This is looking like a top 10 defense in Detroit.