NFL world reacts to Lions dominating Cardinals in first half

The one-win Detroit Lions found themselves as 12.5-point home underdogs against the first-place Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Fresh off a 38-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 14, no one really expected Jared Goff and Co. to keep pace with a Cardinals squad that is still battling for the No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.

But as we’ve learned around the NFL over the years, expect the unexpected.

The Lions opened the scoring with a field goal in the first quarter before scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter. That included two touchdown passes from Goff, culminating in a 22-yard strike to Josh Reynolds with 24 seconds remaining in the half.

As for the Cardinals, they only came close to scoring once in the first two quarters. That drive ended on a fourth-down stop by Detroit’s defense.

When all was said and done in the first half, Detroit held a 17-0 lead. The team had out-gained Arizona 238-84 with 14 first downs compared to five.

Goff vastly outplayed Kyler Murray in the first 30 minutes — completing 15-of-19 passes for 171 yards with two touchdowns against zero interceptions. It was the best half of football for the former No. 1 pick since he was acquired from the Los Angeles Rams during the offseason. Needless to say, Detroit’s first-half domination was the talk of social media.