It was four months ago on Sept. 22 that the Arizona Cardinals lost in Week 3 to the Detroit Lions, 20-13.
The Cardinals were 1-2 after that game and the Lions 2-1. Following the game, the Cardinals were .500 at 7-7 to finish 8-9 while the Lions won 13 of their last 14 to earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a 15-2 record.
However, what was noteworthy about that game were the defensive starters on the field for the Lions, which limited the Cardinals to 277 yards (5.2 per play) and stopped them on 9-of-10 third downs and two fourth downs.
That came one week after the Cardinals throttled the Los Angeles Rams 41-10 while totaling 489 yards.
Six starters on the Detroit defense that day were on injured reserve for Saturday’s 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders during which they allowed 481 yards: Defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport, defensive tackle Alim McNeill, linebackers Derrick Barnes and Malcolm Rodriguez and cornerback Carlton Davis III.
The five that started in Week 3 and also started Saturday were defensive tackle D.J. Reader, linebacker Jack Campbell, cornerbacks Brian Branch and Terrion Arnold and safety Kerby Joseph.
They couldn’t even avoid more Saturday when cornerback Amik Robertson suffered a broken arm on Detroit’s second offensive play of the game. He was replaced by Kindle Vildor, who was on the field for 73 defensive snaps after averaging 14.4 snaps per game during the regular season. Rookie Morice Norris, who played one snap in two regular-season games, played 22 against the Commanders.
The one storm cloud over the Lions as the season ended was whether their defensive injuries would affect them in the postseason after the Green Bay Packers scored 31 in Week 4, the Buffalo Bills 48 in Week 15 and the San Francisco 49ers 34 in Week 17.
They obviously did, no matter how often the “no-excuse” crowd blindly parrots the “all teams have injuries” mantra.
To a degree, they do, but not all are at the same numbers. The Lions ended the season with 12 players on injured reserve or reserve/non-football illness added to the list in or after the cut to 53 players. That was the most among the teams in the final eight. The Cardinals were at 16 for their final game against the 49ers, who had 18 on IR.
During the regular season, the Lions had 21 defensive players miss a total of 168 games because of injury. The 12 on injured reserve missed 117 games with six missing 10 or more.
A look at the teams playing in the conference championship games next weekend is telling. Those four teams have a total of 18 players on injured reserve. The Kansas City Chiefs (one starter) and Philadelphia Eagles each have seven, while the Washington Commanders have three and the Buffalo Bills one.
The evidence has always been obvious that the NFL is truly survival of the fittest.
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