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 Detroit Lions opened the scoring with a field goal in the first quarter before scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter alone. 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. Said 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 interecptions. 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.
The Lions were +500 to win outright today. 😱
They're BLANKING the Cardinals at the half. 🦁 pic.twitter.com/pHVz5Ce3JI
The Rams broke the Cardinals’ brains. pic.twitter.com/NoV5BLEqij
THE LIONS WANT THE NO. 1 SEED
pic.twitter.com/Oy50abRGXl
Lions Fans: But, I thought you got hurt?
Jared Goff: pic.twitter.com/9FIQzl5SZz
Cardinals stink
Over 85% of the handle @DKSportsbook was on the Cardinals 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/hxSZCSNlVg
When the @AZCardinals found out they could lose their playoff spot 💀 pic.twitter.com/VOz7NpWZ3x
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