The Detroit Lions went on the road Week 3 and got a hard-fought win over the Arizona Cardinals, 20-13.
"Look, that team over there played hard. We knew they would. That is a physical unit. They have weapons and toughness," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after the win. "Coach (Jonathan) Gannon is doing a good job over there. He really is.
"It is good to get back in the win column. We were locked in and ready to go this week. I felt like we cleaned up a lot of things that we needed to clean up. It is still not perfect, but ultimately, we knew that this would be one of those grimy, gritty, unglorious type jobs that needed to be done on the offensive line, defensive line, receivers, defensive backs, everywhere. That is exactly the game that it was."
Next up for the Lions is an undefeated Seattle team playing some really good football coming to Ford Field for Monday Night Football.
Ahead of that matchup Monday, let's take a closer look at five numbers that stand out for the Lions after Week 3:
1. Number: 70
What it means: The Lions haven't allowed an opposing running back to rush for 70-plus yards in 22 games.
Twentyman: We have to go all the way back to Carolina Week 16 of the 2022 season as the last time Detroit allowed an opposing running back to gain 70-plus yards on the ground. D'Onta Foreman (165) and Chuba Hubbard (125) both went for 100-plus in that contest.
Detroit's given up some 70-plus rushing yard efforts to quarterbacks in that span, but no running backs. So far this season they've allowed 50 yards to Kyren Williams (Rams), 22 to Bucky Irving (Bucs) and 17 to James Conner. The 230 total rushing yards the Lions have allowed through three weeks this season ranks third lowest in the NFL.
2. Number: 2
What it means: The number of receptions rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold allowed in his coverage area vs. the Cardinals Sunday.
Twentyman: Arnold was flagged for his fourth pass interference penalty of the season early in the game, something he needs to continue to focus on, but overall it was the rookie's best game of his young career.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray threw at Arnold six times, more than any other Lions defender, but connected on just two of those for a total of 31 yards with a 51.4 passer rating. Arnold also had a nice pass breakup mixed in there. All six of those targets were with Arnold covering No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr.
3. Number: 200-plus
What it means: The Lions are the first team since at least the 1970 AFL/NFL merger to have two running backs (David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs) with 200-plus rushing yards and two receivers (Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams) with 200-plus receiving yards through the first three games of a season.
Twentyman: For all the talk about trying to find rushes and targets for all the weapons the Lions have this is a very telling statistic of how productive Detroit has been, and they haven't even played close to their best ball offensively this season. The Lions are on pace to have two 1,000-yard rushers and two 1,000-yard receivers on the season.
4. Number: 25.8
What it means: Detroit's third-down efficiency on defense this season
Twentyman: That percentage is good for third best in the NFL as Los Angeles, Tampa Bay and Arizona have combined to convert just 8-of-31 third-down attempts against the Lions this season. Detroit's defense has been particularly good in longer-to-gain situations on third down. Opponents are 1-for-9 converting attempts between six and nine yards and just 2-for-12 needing 10-plus yards for a first down. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is dialing up all the right calls on third down.
5. Number: 0
What it means: The number of drops Lions pass catchers have been credited with through three games.
Twentyman: This was an area the Lions struggled with a bit last year, finishing with the sixth most drops (24) in the league. This has been a point of emphasis this offseason for players like St. Brown, Williams and Gibbs and they've been really good in that department through Detroit's first three contests.
