Matthew Stafford was expected to bring his "A" game, but he struggled to the extreme as the Detroit Lions lost 17-42 against the Arizona Cardinals. Stafford was benched in the third quarter of Sunday's game. 

The quarterback threw an interception to start the game, but bounced back with a touchdown to Theo Riddick to give the Lions (0-5) a 7-0 lead with 2:21 left. 

Meanwhile, the Cardinals (4-1) outscored the Lions 28-0 in the second quarter. The same quarter which Stafford threw and interception and the Lions fumbled. 

Carson Palmer found Darren Fells from 14 yards out to get the Cardinals on the board. David Johnson rushed for a four-yard and a two-yard touchdown to make it 21-7. To top it all off, John Brown caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Palmer. 

While D. Johnson scored the touchdowns, Chris Johnson led Arizona with 103 rushing yards on 11 carries. D. Johnson only had three carries for six yards, but the touchdowns were pivotal. 

The Lions were expected to bounce back, but they did not. Stafford threw an interception which gave the Arizona momentum to score once again. With six minutes and 27 seconds left in the third, Palmer threw a two-yard touchdown pas to Larry Fitzgerald

The interception forced the Lions to pull Stafford. The first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft only threw for 188 yards on 20-of-32 passing. The 27-year-old threw a single touchdown, while giving up three interceptions. 

The two fumbled came from Ameer Abdullah and Golden Tate. Abdullah rushed for just 17 yards on six carries. 

The 35-year-old, Palmer, threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns, while completing 11-of-14 in the win over Detroit. 

"I feel comfortable and confident," said Palmer, who was drafted first overall in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Palmer connected with Brown four times for 73 yards and five times to Fitzgerald for 58 yards. But, Fitzgerald believes this win does not mean much more than a "W" on the sheet of paper. He knows they need to keep it up if they want a playoff opportunity. 

"It's far too early," he said. "At this point of the season last year, we had a two-game and we didn't win it."

Drew Stanton came in relief of Palmer and went 1-for-4 with 10 yards passing. 

With just under 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Lions finally scored again. Kicker Matt Prater was good from 40 yards to make it a 25 point deficit for Detroit. 

Just seconds after Prater kicked the field goal, Andre Ellington rushed for a 63-yard touchdown to extend the lead for the Cardinals, 42-10. Ellington carried the ball three times for 63 yards in the dominant win. 

Dan Orlovsky, who replaced Stafford in the third quarter, hit veteran Lance Moore for a 13-yard touchdown. It was the final scoring play of the wild night. 

The backup quarterback finished 21-for-38 with 191 yards through the air. He tossed one touchdown, while throwing an interception. 

The four interceptions were returned for a total of 81 yards. Rashad Johnson picked off two, meanwhile, Patrick Peterson and Cory Redding both logged one interception.

"Once we got the first couple turnovers, it was like piranhas with the blood in the water," Arizona coach Bruce Arians said. "I was just worried we were going to start taking the ball away from each other." 

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About the author
Evan Petzold
Evan Petzold is a Detroit-based journalist with expertise in covering the Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings. A member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) and Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DBSA), he brings a unique skill set in reporting and broadcasting to the table.