Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Drew Stanton threw touchdown passes to Michael Floyd on the first two drives of the game and the Arizona Cardinals held on to beat the Detroit Lions 14-6 on Sunday.
Stanton stepped in again for Carson Palmer, who was lost for the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee last week.
His touchdown throws of 42 and 12 yards to Floyd in the first nine minutes of the game stood up as the NFL-leading Cardinals (9-1) pushed their winning streak to six, their longest since 1977.
It's the first time the franchise won nine of its first 10 games since the Chicago Cardinals went 11-1 in 1948.
Matt Prater kicked two field goals for the Lions (7-3), who had a four-game winning streak snapped -- their longest since a 5-0 start to the 2011 season.
A key play came early in the fourth quarter when a bizarre 49-yard punt return by Detroit's Jeremy Ross was called back after Arizona successfully challenged that Justin Bethel had downed the ball at the 1-yard line.
Bethel, after racing back to keep the punt out of the end zone, snagged it in front of the goal line and threw it back into play, where Ross caught it and returned it past midfield.
The Lions failed to convert a 4th-and-2 from the Arizona 47 on the drive and then punted on their last possession with under three minutes left. Arizona picked up one first down on Stanton's 11-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald and kneeled out the remaining time, improving to 6-0 at home.
Stanton was 21-of-32 passing for 306 yards and threw two interceptions in his career-high fourth start of the season. He completed passes to 10 different receivers.
"Drew did what we expected him to do," Fitzgerald said of Stanton. "There was no question that he was going to go out there and play well."
Detroit's Matthew Stafford threw for just 183 yards with an interception, but set an NFL passing record during the game.
He became the quickest quarterback to reach 20,000 yards, doing it in 71 games -- three fewer than Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino needed for the Miami Dolphins in the 1980s.
Calvin Johnson had five catches for 59 yards in his second game back from an ankle injury.
"We didn't help ourselves out. We had too many penalties and mental errors," Stafford said. "You do that against a good defense and you won't be too successful."
Floyd caught Stanton's 42-yard touchdown pass in the front right corner of the end zone 2:58 into the game despite pass interference from cornerback Cassius Vaughn.
Robert Hughes' 49-yard reception helped set up Floyd's 12-yard touchdown catch to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game.
Prater kicked a 50-yard field goal at the other end for Detroit's first points and the Lions intercepted Stanton twice in the second quarter.
Josh Bynes' pick led to a punt, but Vaughn returned his 25 yards to help set up Prater's 28-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining in the first half to get the Lions within 14-6.
Game Notes
The 31-year-old Fitzgerald had two grabs for 33 yards and became the youngest receiver to reach 12,000 career yards behind Randy Moss ... Andre Ellington had 19 carries for 42 yards for the Cardinals, who go on the road to face division foe Seattle next week ... The Lions play New England on the road next week ... The Cardinals won six in a row from Oct. 16-Nov. 20, 1977.
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