The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 3 matchup between the Cardinals and Lions.
Find a breakdown of every Week 3 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Detroit | Rank | @ | Arizona | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -3 | Spread | 3 | ||
| 27.75 | Implied Total | 24.75 | ||
| 21 | 16 | Points/Gm | 34.5 | 2 |
| 20 | 12 | Points All./Gm | 22 | 17 |
| 72 | 1 | Plays/Gm | 61 | 16 |
| 60.5 | 16 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 55 | 7 |
| 5.7 | 11 | Off. Yards/Play | 6.2 | 5 |
| 5 | 13 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.4 | 20 |
| 40.28% | 23 | Rush% | 53.28% | 7 |
| 59.72% | 10 | Pass% | 46.72% | 26 |
| 38.02% | 5 | Opp. Rush % | 48.18% | 23 |
| 61.98% | 28 | Opp. Pass % | 51.82% | 10 |
- Detroit has a 27.3% red zone conversion rate (28th) after a 66.7% rate in 2023 (2nd).
- Arizona is averaging a league-high 42.3 yards per possession.
- Detroit has a league-high 56.9% success rate on rushing plays.
- Arizona averages 2.0 more rushing yards per play than their opponent, 2nd in the league.
- Detroit averages 1.9 more yards per rushing play than their opponents, 3rd in the league.
- Kyler Murray has the lowest rate of plays, resulting in -1.0 EPA or worse (9.4%) among quarterbacks over the course of two weeks.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Kyler Murray: Murray played one of the best games of his career on Sunday, connecting on 17-of-21 (81.0%) of his passes for 12.7 yards per pass attempt and 3 passing scores.
He also added 59 yards rushing on his way to finishing as the highest-scoring quarterback in Week 2 (28.5 points).
It was the first time that Murray was the QB1 in overall scoring since Week 13 of the 2021 season.
After going 0-of-7 (2 drops) on throws 10 yards or further downfield in Week 1, Murray was 7-of-9 for 192 yards with all 3 touchdowns on those throws in Week 2.
Murray was at his best on Sunday, extending plays.
He had a perfect rating on throws outside of the pocket and was 9-of-11 on throws where he held the ball over 2.5 seconds.
Murray will draw a tougher matchup against the Lions than a week ago, but there are avenues for upside as a QB1 because I believe Murray can do a lot with his legs here.
The Detroit pass defense can succeed when they have gotten home with pressures, and they have a matchup edge against the Arizona offensive line.
But the opposite is true when the Lions have not gotten pressure.
Without pressure, they have allowed a 72.5% completion rate (19th) and 7.5 yards per pass attempt (21st).
Baker Mayfield had 8 dropbacks under pressure last week, and he only got one pass attempt off on those plays.
On the others, he took 5 sacks with 2 scrambles.
Mayfield added 9.4 rushing points last week to his total for fantasy.
Detroit played Matthew Stafford in Week 1, so it did not matter in the opener, but this was an ongoing issue for them in 2023.
In 2023, Detroit allowed 24.7 rushing yards per game to quarterbacks, 30th in the league.
Murray has a 22.7% scramble rate when pressured (6th) and a 20% scramble rate (3rd) against man coverage.
The Lions have played man coverage on 48.0% of passing plays, which is 3rd in the league.
That man coverage has given Murray issues as a passer.
He only 6 dropbacks this season against man coverage (5.0 Y/A) but for his career, Murray has a completion rate of 55.7% and 6.2 Y/A against man coverage.
Against zone coverage, Murray has completed 71.5% of his career passes for 7.5 Y/A.
Jared Goff: Goff has struggled to open the year despite having two solid matchups.
He has closed the first two weeks as QB18 (11.4 points) and QB27 (7.4 points) at home against the Rams and Buccaneers.
Goff threw 55 passes on Sunday but did not throw a touchdown, averaging only 5.6 yards per pass attempt.
Goff has struggled in a few areas.
The first is on downfield throws.
He has hit a couple of shot plays to Jameson Williams, but Goff is just 9-of-26 (34.6%) on throws 10 or more yards downfield, with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.
Goff also has a league-high 18 red zone passes with zero touchdowns.
His 2.6 yards per attempt in the red zone is 21st in the league.
Goff has squandered two good matchups, but he has another one on deck indoors in another high-game total.
It hasn’t worked so far, but this is another good spot to chase Goff getting on track.
I prefer to use Goff in 2QB formats and play for a floor week with upside potential, but if you lost Tua in a 1QB league and someone released Goff, I would scoop him up here.
I do not buy Arizona’s defensive performance in Week 2 against the beleaguered Rams and believe that they are closer to what we saw from them in Week 1 in Buffalo.
In Week 1, Arizona was 25th in pressure rate compared to 13th against the patchwork Rams front.
Running Back
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More Week 3 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet:
| Matchup | Time |
|---|---|
| Patriots @ Jets -- FREE | Thursday Night Football |
| Giants @ Browns | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Packers @ Titans | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Bears @ Colts | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Texans @ Vikings | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Eagles @ Saints | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Chargers @ Steelers | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Broncos @ Bucs | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Panthers @ Raiders | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Dolphins @ Seahawks | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Ravens @ Cowboys | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| 49ers @ Rams | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Lions @ Cardinals | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Chiefs @ Falcons | Sunday Night Football |
| Jaguars @ Bills -- FREE | Monday Night Football |
| Commanders @ Bengals -- FREE | Monday Night Football |
