Cardinals drop a 20-13 game to the Lions at home, unable to get on track offensively

THE STORY: Kyler Murray was so positive while talking during his postgame press conference on Sunday, following a difficult and sometimes offensively-ugly 20-13 loss to the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium, he was asked about the effort to embrace a moral victory.

The Cardinals quarterback wanted none of that, interrupting the point to say so.

The team built on the run couldn’t against these NFC finalists from a year ago, and that can be an issue. The Cardinals (1-2) had just 77 yards on the ground, and 45 of those came from Murray’s legs. A fantastic defensive effort – especially in the second half – against the Lions (2-1) should have been good enough.

So no, Murray was feeling the loss. But it wasn’t the same as it once was.

“Losing is frustrating,” Murray acknowledged. “I’m encouraged though. I’m encouraged because I know what could’ve been in that game.

“I am excited for the road ahead.”

Coach Jonathan Gannon was equally upbeat, calling his team “resilient, which I am enthused about and which I told them.” That the defense pitched a second-half shutout did mean something, keeping the Cardinals in a game that looked for awhile like it might get away.

But the script of the Cardinals’ success is easy to understand, and when running back James Conner finished with as many yards Sunday (17 on nine carries) as he did on his first two runs of the blowout win over the Rams the week before, it portends possible struggles.

There were no holes from which to exploit. Murray’s legs made a difference on Arizona’s opening drive, when the Cardinals again marched down the field with ease and finished off with a 10-yard Murray-to-Marvin Harrison Jr. touchdown pass. But after that, Conner never had real opportunity.

“Honestly, we want to keep it simple and execute,” tight end Tip Reiman said. “I don’t feel (OC) Drew (Petzing) called a bad game. We just have to keep chopping. This is nothing to overanalyze.”

It did impact the Cardinals’ offensive decisions. Despite it being a 10-point game, the Cards did not run the ball in the fourth quarter. Their final 18 plays were called passes, although that did gain them a field goal that made it a one-score game.

“We have to find a way to get (the run game) going,” Murray said.

Murray finished 21-of-34 for 207 yards, the touchdown and his first interception of the season, an end zone pick on a deep ball to Harrison that he lamented afterward,…