The natural inclination when a team blows a big fourth-quarter lead like the Detroit Lions did Sunday is to blame the play calling and suggest they went away from the strategy they used to take control of the game in the first place.

There’s an element of that in the Lions’ fourth-quarter meltdown against the Arizona Cardinals, especially offensively. But the real reason the Cardinals were able to erase an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit and escape with a 27-27 tie lies in what a disgusted Mike Daniels said after the game when asked if the Lions got too conservative with their play calling.

“They made some plays out there,” Daniels said. “Got a Hall-of-Fame receiver, No. 1 overall pick at quarterback, veteran O-line and a very good running back. They might make some plays out there. It’s the NFL.”

Yes, the Cardinals – especially future Hall-of-Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald – made some big plays in the final 24 minutes of Sunday’s game, while the Lions, after playing well defensively for the first three quarters, did not.

A review of the TV copy of Sunday’s game – coaches film was not yet available through the NFL’s GamePass site – showed the Lions did not do anything usual from a play-calling standpoint during the Cardinals’ three fourth-quarter scoring drives and instead committed several critical errors on both sides of the ball.

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Leading 24-6 after T.J. Hockenson’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter, the Lions spent most of their next two defensive series in their nickel package, while the Cardinals went almost exclusively no-huddle on offense. Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Jahlani Tavai and Christian Jones all saw time at linebacker, a position which normally would have been manned by the injured Jarrad Davis, and Justin Coleman played primarily as the Lions’ fifth defensive back.

The Cardinals put together back-to-back scoring drives to pull within eight points, converting two third downs plus a second-and-11.

On the first drive, the Lions accepted an illegal motion penalty after Kyler Murray scrambled for 8 yards on third-and-9. Murray’s run, had it stood, would have left the Cardinals in fourth-and-1 with 13:46 on the clock and the ball at their own 35-yard line.

Instead, on third-and-14, Fitzgerald beat second-year safety Tracy Walker for a 41-yard gain. The Lions rushed just four defenders on the play – no surprise, considering they had one of the lowest blitz percentages in the NFL last season – kept Reeves-Maybin near the line of scrimmage to spy on Murray, and had Quandre Diggs in man coverage on David Johnson, who stayed in to block.

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That left four Arizona receivers running vertical routes against five Lions defensive backs, and Fitzgerald simply beat Walker in man coverage.

(Coleman was called for defensive holding on the play, so even if Murray’s pass had gone incomplete the Cardinals would have been awarded a first down.)

Three plays later, Christian Kirk converted a third-and-2 with a 12-yard gain on an end around. The Lions missed two tackles on the play, one by Walker that would have thrown Kirk for about a 5-yard loss (and forced probably a 53-yard field goal), and one by Diggs. Kirk’s run – and the missed tackles on defense – set up an easy 34-yard field goal that Zane Gonzalez hit to cut the Lions’ lead to 24-9.

The Lions went conservative on the ensuing offensive series to their own detriment, though their own mistakes were a contributing factor to their three-and-out as well.

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Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called back-to-back running plays to start a drive for the first time all game. Kerryon Johnson ran for 4 yards on the first snap, and would have gained more if fullback Nick Bawden hadn't missed a block.

Johnson ran for no gain on second down, when defensive lineman Corey Peters shot into the backfield past Graham Glasgow to disrupt the play and linebacker Joe Walker scurried through traffic to assist on the stop.

On third-and-6, the Cardinals sent six pass rushers, forcing Matthew Stafford to throw hot to Danny Amendola short of the first down. Had Stafford not got rid of the ball when he did, he would have been sacked as Taylor Decker missed a block.

The Lions spent the entire next series in their nickel defense, got little pressure on Murray and never forced a third down. Rashaan Melvin helped the Cardinals escape a second-and-11 in Arizona territory when he was called for an illegal contact penalty, and the Lions had coverage breakdowns in the series by linebackers Jones and Reeves-Maybin. Jones bit on a Murray play fake to Johnson that left a Cardinals receiver wide open for a 10-yard gain, then Johnson beat Reeves-Maybin down the middle of the field for a touchdown.

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After the game, Fitzgerald said he sensed momentum starting to turn on his long catch early in the fourth quarter, and Murray, making his first career start, said he saw the Lions defense tiring on the field.

“Late in the game I think they were just tired,” Murray said. “I know (Damon) Harrison wasn’t on the field a lot, probably due to him not playing a lot in the preseason, if at all. So the tempo can get to them and I think that’s what helped us out later in the game as we started actually going.”

The Lions picked up two first downs on their next drive before a negative run play – C.J. Anderson was stopped for a 2-yard loss with just under three minutes to play after Peters blew by Joe Dahl for another disruption – left them behind the chains and forced an eventual punt.

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The Cardinals, who ran 25 offensive plays in the fourth quarter after averaging 14 in each of the first three periods, tied the game with 43 seconds left on Murray’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald and the ensuing two-point conversion.

A somber Matt Patricia pointed to his team’s lack of focus and his own unspecified coaching mistakes as a way to explain the Lions’ fourth-quarter collapse.

“I think for us, we just got to stay focused all the way through, I got to coach it better just so we can finish off the game,” he said after the game. “Obviously, Larry Fitzgerald’s a great player. I think he really kind of obviously took over there at the end. We were trying to do a lot of different adjustments to get to him, but that’s why he’s a Hall of Fame guy. He’s that type of player and I think for us, just too many mistakes, bad execution and bad coaching. So we just got to be able to finish off.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.