If you watched the game, there was no question about it, the Detroit Lions defense got tired in the fourth quarter and the Arizona Cardinals took advantage of it.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, who said after the game that the Lions’ fatigue on defense played a role in Arizona’s fourth-quarter comeback.
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Via MLive:
“Late in the game, I think they were just tired,” Murray said. “I know (Snacks) Harrison wasn’t on the field a lot, probably due to him not playing a lot in the preseason. So the tempo can get to them, and I think that’s what helped us out later in the game as we actually started going.”
After a very slow three quarters, Murray completed 15 of his 18 fourth-quarter passes as the Cardinals stormed back from 18 points down to tie it up at 24 and send the game to overtime.
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On Monday, Damon Harrison was asked about Murray’s comments and the Lions nose tackle downplayed them, explaining why he barely played in the fourth quarter.
“I think you guys blew that out of proportion. It wasn’t directly saying me, he said what everybody else already knew. I was not out there that much in the fourth quarter because I was not in the defensive sets that were out there on the field. We had an 18-pt lead, we had our defensive guys on the field to try and preserve the lead so it wasn’t a situation where I was tired. I played 26 snaps,” Harrison said.
Let’s hope the Lions straighten things out before they host the Los Angeles Chargers this coming Sunday.
