In many respects, Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals was a notable step for the Detroit Lions' offense. The run game was established from the get-go, and they totaled 187 yards on the ground and possessed the ball for nearly 37 minutes. Even the previous woes in the red zone (3-for-11 over the first two games) went away for a day (2-for-2).
But the Lions also did not score after halftime, as their second half drives went like this.
-5 plays, 17 yards, Punt
-2 plays, -7 yards, Interception
-6 plays, 42 yards, Turnover on downs
-7 plays, 19 yards, Punt
-3 plays, two yards, Punt
-4 plays, 25 yards, Punt
-7 plays, 25 yards, End of game
That's 123 net yards on 34 plays over seven drives. The defense was on-point again, saving the day when the offense couldn't get much going in the second half.
Punter Jack Fox was also a legitimate field position-tilting weapon. Three of his four second half punts were downed or fair-caught inside the 10-yard line, and the other was fair-caught at the 12-yard line.
Shoutout to Jack Fox, who helped the Lions survive that scoreless second half and gave the defense a boost.
— Ben Raven (@BenjaminSRaven) September 23, 2024
Fox punted five times, pinning four inside the 20-yard line with one touchback. He pinned punts at the 2-, 12-, 9- and 7-yard lines.
Amon-Ra St. Brown knows Lions' offense has to be, and will be, better
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had a team-high seven catches for 75 yards against the Cardinals, with his first touchdown of the season. He also played a central role in the Lions' other touchdown, as the "hook" in the hook-and-ladder score by Jahmyr Gibbs.
St. Brown was of course glad to get a win, but he knows the Lions' offense has to do more.
"Our defense is playing great. I feel like we, as an offense, got to put more points on the board . . . It’s nice to get a win, but we feel like as an offense we can get a lot better,” St. Brown said, via ESPN's Eric Woodyard. “A lot of room for improvement and we will get better. I don’t think we’re too worried, but we’ve got to keep improving.”
Left tackle Taylor Decker echoed St. Brown's sentiment.
"There's always going to be things to clean up and I don't think we've played a complete game yet as an offense, and I don't think that's any secret", Decker said. "But we're doing some things well and I think we're improving in areas. I think the sky's the limit for this team if we keep playing complementary football."
The Lions are 13th in the league in scoring offense (20.7 points per game) through three weeks, and their red zone efficiency is still just 25th (38.5 percent). One of the league's best offenses has nowhere to go but up from here, as they shake off September rust and find a rhythm.