The Arizona Cardinals were the best team in the NFL the first half of the season and had remained perfect on the road even after stumbling in recent weeks, leaving them in position to clinch a playoff berth with a win Sunday.
Instead, the Cardinals turned in their most disappointing performance of the season, getting blown out 30-12 by a Detroit Lions team that had entered the game with an NFL-worst 1-11-1 record.
So it was that an Arizona team that opened the year 7-0 slumped to 10-4 after a defeat no one saw coming.
"This is an unacceptable loss," Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks told reporters. "We weren't ourselves today."
Added quarterback Kyler Murray: "They were hungrier than us. They played harder than us."
It was a performance reminiscent of the Cardinals' ugly 34-10 home setback against the Carolina Panthers last month, but all the more galling given the quality of the opposition.
The Lions were even colder than the Cardinals were hot to open 2021, dropping their first eight games before playing to a 16-16 draw with the Pittsburgh Steelers, then losing two more before finally beating the Minnesota Vikings two weeks ago.
Yet Detroit managed to dominate the proceedings Sunday even though the teams finished the game virtually level in terms of key statistics.
The Cardinals out-gained the Lions 398-338, while Detroit held a slight edge in time of possession (31:52 to 28:08) and each team had just one turnover.
Yet Arizona failed to convert on all four red-zone opportunities, most notably turning the ball over on downs at Detroit's three-yard line after a failed fourth-down try late in the first half.
Goff engineered a 97-yard touchdown drive from there, giving the Lions a 17-0 lead at half-time, and Detroit never looked back.
Arizona, meanwhile, may have tried to do too much after getting in that hole.
"There's no such thing as a 17-point touchdown and we've got to approach it that way if we get in this situation again," said head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Arizona had won all seven of their road games this season by double digits entering Sunday, and they face one more daunting test away from home, a trip to the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys in two weeks' time.
They can only hope to figure out what adjustments need to be made before facing that challenge.
"We know who we are," Murray said. "We know the guys we have in the locker room, we've got the talent, we've got the coaches, we've got the leadership. It's about locking in and playing to our capabilities.
"Screw everything else, pretty much. We have to be how we were at the beginning of the season."
Colts considering move for former MVP Lamar Jackson
After years of patchwork quarterback play, the Indianapolis Colts are considering acquiring Lamar Jackson to solve their woes under center.
Just hours after Jackson announced that he had asked the Baltimore Ravens to trade him, the Colts became the first franchise to declare their intentions to look into acquiring the former league MVP.
"Anytime a special player is available, which [Jackson] is, you've got to do the work," Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Monday at the NFL's annual league meeting in Phoenix.
"I'm not going to get into deep discussions on where it's at or what we're doing or what we might do," Ballard said. "But what I'll tell you is he's a really good player, really special player. But you never know how any of this will work out.
"I think anytime at that position we have a chance to acquire a guy, you've got to do your work on it to see if it's doable," Ballard said. "Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.
"If you don't feel like you have one that can absolutely change the franchise in terms of leading you every year, I think you're always going to feel some pressure to get that player right."
Since Andrew Luck’s surprising retirement in 2019, the Colts have shuffled through a list of stop-gap options at quarterback, including Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan.
Jackson confirmed suspicions that his relationship with the Ravens has been fractured Monday when he announced in a statement on Twitter that he had requested a trade on March 2.
On March 7, Baltimore placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback, meaning that other teams could sign Jackson to an offer sheet in exchange for two first-round draft picks.
Teams could offer more than two first-rounders to the Ravens as a part of any potential blockbuster trade.
Ballard said his team will do their "due diligence" to bring an answer at quarterback to the Colts – who own the fourth overall selection in next month’s draft – and had previously said the team would consider trading up for the right quarterback.
On Monday, Ballard made the case for drafting a quarterback outside the first round.
"What I would tell you is that there's good players in this draft at every level," Ballard said. "Everybody just talks about the top four [quarterbacks], but there's some more guys out there that are pretty good players.
"And I think history's shown – especially in the last few years with [Philadelphia Eagles quarterback] Jalen [Hurts] being one and [San Francisco 49ers’] Brock Purdy coming in and playing really well – they come at every level. So, we'll do our work on every one of them."
'We want him here long-term' - Eagles GM Roseman optimistic about Hurts extension
Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said the team plans on engaging in extension discussions with quarterback Jalen Hurts in the near future and is confident an agreement can be reached before the 2022 NFL MVP runner-up hits free agency.
Speaking at the NFL annual league meeting in Phoenix on Monday, Roseman confirmed that extending Hurts will be the Eagles' highest priority in the coming months.
"It's no secret that sometime relatively soon we want to extend our quarterback," Roseman stated. "We want him here long-term. It's going to be a priority for us to extend him.
"You have to navigate the offseason understanding that we're not going to lose our franchise quarterback with one year left on his deal."
Hurts, who led the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII by throwing for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns during a breakout 2022 campaign, is entering the final season on the four-year contract he signed as a rookie in 2020.
The second team All-Pro added 760 rushing yards and led all quarterbacks with 13 rushing touchdowns while finishing second to Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes in MVP voting.
Hurts will be due for a substantial raise from the $4.2million he is set to make this season, and Roseman acknowledged a new deal will have a profound impact on the Eagles' roster in 2024 and beyond.
"Our whole kind of roster-building is going to turn a little bit here, from a quarterback on a rookie deal towards hopefully a quarterback on a long-term deal," Roseman said.
"It's going to mean 2024 is going to look different, we're not going to have a quarterback on a rookie deal. Not that we're talking about [franchise] tags or anything like that, that's not our goal here, but we're going into it with our eyes open and understanding that we've got to kind of flip [the roster]."
An extension for Hurts is expected to command an average annual value of at least $40m while making him among the top 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league. And with two other premier quarterbacks from the 2020 draft – Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert – in line to receive lucrative new deals relatively soon, the Eagles have significant incentive to work something out as soon as possible.
A second-round pick in the 2020 draft, Hurts took over as Philadelphia's starting quarterback in 2021 and has gone 22-8 since over the past two seasons. Only Mahomes (26-8) has a higher winning percentage among quarterbacks who made at least 15 starts during that span.
Saleh confident Rodgers will be a Jet, confirms Beckham Jr. interest
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh is confident the team will sign Aaron Rodgers.
The veteran quarterback confirmed earlier in March that he wished to leave the Green Bay Packers to join the Jets.
However, the teams have so far been unable to reach an agreement.
Saleh, however, is not concerned.
"I'm not hitting the panic button," Saleh said while in attendance at the NFL's annual league meeting.
"I'm confident that things are going to work out.
"You guys know me. I'm a very positive person and optimistic, so I'm confident that things will go the way we're hoping. But at the same time, it's not going to eat at me."
Indeed, Saleh says the Jets are willing to play the long game when it comes to Rodgers.
"If there's a great rapport with the coordinator, there's really no urgency," Saleh said.
"The quarterback, if he understands the system, if the quarterback knows it, it's just a matter of just refining skills and doing all that stuff. So, there's no hurry."
Saleh also confirmed that Odell Beckham Jr, who remains a free agent, is a target.
"He's been a fantastic receiver in this league," Saleh said of Beckham Jr.
"Everything you hear about him, he's a phenomenal person. That's something you're always going to look over, turn over every stone, cross your t's, dot your i's, just make sure you're not missing an opportunity to add a great player, and there's no guarantee anything will happen."
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