Kingsbury-sized gaffes by Cardinals help keep Patriots' season alive

FOXBOROUGH -- Every time Bill Belichick’s coaching prowess is questioned, a Kliff Kingsbury rolls into town and restores New England’s faith. Sunday afternoon’s 20-17 Patriots’ walk-off win energized the fandom and exposed both Kingsbury and the Cardinals as yet another team in the NFL heap of mediocrity. New England’s quest to not see this season dissolve into the abyss is still alive.

While all of Arizona claims foul on a controversial 15-yard personal foul call on Isaiah Simmons, the folks in the Valley of the Sun might be wondering why the self-proclaimed offensive guru Kingsbury chose to burn his final timeout just before the play, as New England faced a 3^rd-and-13 with 56 seconds left.

What was Kingsbury doing? Was he trying to make sure that Cam Newton – 9 of 17 for 84 yards and two interceptions at the time – would let it fly to move the chains?

“I couldn’t tell, just saw the replay like you all did. Looked like the quarterback was still in play, but I didn’t get a great look at it,” said Kingsbury of the dagger/penalty.

He neglected to mention that if his team just lets the clock run, instead of calling the last timeout, we’re all headed to overtime and awaiting the coin flip. That timeout provided the Patriots a pulse, and Simmons gave New England’s season a shot of adrenaline with the penalty to push the home team into Nick Folk’s range.

“We didn’t do enough,” said the Cardinals’ coach and former sixth-round draft pick of these New England Patriots.

Actually, Kingsbury did plenty, finding a way to lose a game in which his defense held the Patriots to 179 yards of offense.

No Cardinals’ reporters chose to ask him about the timeout, most likely because the innovator of all things offensively was busy explaining the puzzling play call at the end of the first half in which on 4^th-and-a foot, he ran a straight dive into the pile – no deception, no trickery, a Pop Warner level straight dive — nevermind passing up three points that would have been nice to have, and giving the Patriots a lift into halftime.

“I like what (Kenyon Drake) brings in those situations. He usually has a nose for the end zone and unfortunately, it didn't work out for us that time,” said Kingsbury.

Grousing and patting the Patriots on the back. Kingsbury’s postgame tone does a lot to explain his team desperately clinging to the final NFC playoff berth despite a roster bursting with potential Hall of Famers like DeAndre Hopkins, Patrick Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald and Budda Baker, along with a rising superstar in former No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray.

Hopkins, basically held quiet (5 catches, 55 yards) in a mix of Stephon Gilmore and a zone that rolled safeties his way, saved his speed for the postgame sprint to the Twitter-sphere, where he ranted and later deleted on the Simmons’ stick, “Imagine this being called a late hit.”

Of course, the former Houston Texan spent more time barking with Belichick and the New England bench Sunday afternoon than he did running routes.

Meanwhile, Belichick’s scheme which focused on a light, fast box to keep Murray between the tackles, had the Oklahoma great stumbling and bumbling as he looked up the field. Hail Murray ran for just 31 yards on five tries and collected a sub-Mendoza-like 67.0 passer rating for his 23 of 34 day.

“I didn't adjust anything, like I said, if they play me, I have to hand the ball off,” said Murray, whose shoulder, injured in Week 11, probably added to his lack of effectiveness. “You know, thought I probably could have checked it down maybe a couple -- once or twice more than I did, you know, in the pass game. But other than that, there wasn't really any situations where you know, I shied away from a hit or anything like that. I mean, they hit me a couple times anyway, so I played with -- like I said, I wasn't going to play if I couldn't be myself.”

This matchup was two teams fighting for their playoff lives. Arizona, at 6-5, plays in the toughest division in football and has two games left with the 7-4 Rams and another with the recuperating Niners. Desperation should have been a mutual attribute to these two teams on Sunday. But it was strictly a one-way street.

“New England had a good plan. … We knew coming up here we’d face a tough team, with their backs against the wall and get their best shot,” said Kingsbury, who in both halves burned a pair of early timeouts because of poor sideline management.

“Gotta give them credit, they made some big plays at the end and we didn’t.”

Arizona’s listlessness proved to be just what the doctor ordered for a Patriots team that now sits two games out of the final playoff spot with five to play. It clearly comes at the right time as Belichick and his staff attempt to hold things together behind a struggling Newton.

The Patriots face a monster trip to California, heading to LA for dates with the Chargers (Sunday) and Rams (Thursday, Dec. 10) thanks for Kingsbury and the Cards, the trip still matters.

“We got to stack 'em together. That's what it pretty much comes down to. Find ways to win football games,” said Newton. “It's better to find ways to win in situational football, got to have the situations, rather than playing the game just to play the game.”