Adam Butler, unlikely contributors step up as Patriots defense clamps down on Murray, Cardinals

A beleaguered Patriots defense looking for a respite after getting diced up by Deshaun Watson and the Texans last week was in line for no such relief on Sunday afternoon against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals.

With a second-year stud like Murray at the helm and a top wideout in DeAndre Hopkins added to the mix, the Cardinals' offense has served as the bane of many opposing defenses in 2020 — entering Sunday's Week 12 matchup in Foxborough averaging a league-best 414.3 yards per game. Much like Watson, Murray has the ability to carve up whatever the defense has schemed against him thanks to a cannon of an arm and some explosive speed.

But just a week removed from getting put on the ropes against one top-tier, dual-threat QB, New England's defense — namely a shorthanded defensive line — vowed to flip the narrative against another imposing matchup. Of course, stopping the likes of Murray is easier said than done, given the myriad of ways the Arizona QB can march down the field in short order.

But as Adrian Phillips was quick to note following New England's eventual 20-17 victory at Gillette Stadium, the gameplan needed to halt a signal-caller like Murray doesn't involve any sweeping adjustments or revolutionary schemes. Rather, it was about as simple as it could be.



"Pressure," the veteran safety noted. "Any time you pressure a quarterback, whether it's somebody that's mobile or somebody that's a pocket passer, if you pressure them and just continue to mix up the looks, it gives guys a lot of problems. So we were able to do that. If you look back into earlier parts of the season, and even last week, when we pressured, we weren't doing it under control, we were letting them get outside of the pocket and letting them scramble or whatever it may be — find an open receiver downfield.

"But today, we really made sure that no matter what — we're gonna pressure to the guy, we're gonna bring it after him. But we're not just going to let him run around, and it ended up working. So when we execute a game plan like that, it's gonna be tough to beat us."

For as dynamic as the Cardinals have been when handed the ball this season, they were only able to compile 298 net yards on Sunday against a revitalized New England defense — standing as Arizona's second-lowest yardage output of the season (262 yards against Carolina on Oct. 4). A lingering shoulder ailment for Murray did prompt the quarterback to take fewer scrambles and designed runs with the ball, but the Patriots' front-seven unit excelled for most of the evening at keeping Murray contained and preventing any serious gains off the edge.

Even without Carl Davis (injured reserve) and Byron Cowart (inactive) out of action, the Patriots' defensive line was a force throughout Sunday's victory — with Adam Butler serving as a one-man wrecking crew in the middle.

After missing Week 11 against Houston due to a shoulder injury, Butler put together arguably the best individual performance of his career against Arizona — as the 26-year-old tackle closed out the win with six tackles (two for a loss), a sack, three QB hits and a pass deflection.

"Adam did a really good job of penetrating the inside part of the pocket and I think that certainly helped our pass defense, not just the sack, but some disruptive plays in there and just made it a little tougher for them to execute the passing game," Bill Belichick said. "So he did a nice job and he's good at that, he's good at penetrating the inside part of the pocket and when we have that from him, it really makes a big difference for our defense on those passing situations."

Butler's pass deflection in the third quarter resulted in a seven-point swing in favor of New England, with his tip of Murray's pass resulted in a tip ball — with Chase Winovich, Ja'Whaun Bentley and Phillips all in the immediate vicinity. Phillips proved to have the highest vertical among the trio, snatching the ball out of the air for an interception and handing the Patriots' offense a favorable start on the Cardinals' 32-yard line.

Six plays later, James White was back in the end zone for his second rushing score of the afternoon, giving New England a 17-10 lead at the time.

As challenging as the 2020 season has been — both from a team-wide and individual standpoint — Butler stepped up at just the perfect time to keep New England's (still slim) playoff hopes alive.

"I've had some challenges throughout the season," Butler said. "I mean, it's no secret I've been dealing with a shoulder injury, and I've just been fighting like hell to get back. It's really tough to be yourself when you're in a position like that for anybody. I was really, really pleased with my performance today. It's all about the team. It's all about getting wins here and I know that everybody's counting on me to step up and do my job."

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1333139842788696066

But Butler was far from the only member of New England's front seven that played a role in stymying Arizona's potent offense. 

Bentley (13 combined tackles) and Terez Hall teamed up to halt Kenyan Drake on a 3rd and 1 stop in the closing minutes of regulation, forcing the Cardinals to opt for a 45-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez that sailed wide right — gifting the Patriots with new life. Winovich (five tackles) and fellow Michigan product Josh Uche regularly brought the heat against Murray — with Winovich bringing down the QB with a sack in the second quarter, leading to a punt.

But the most pivotal play of the afternoon might have come from a player that has only been on the roster for a little over a week.

Akeem Spence, signed to New England's practice squad on Nov. 21 and called up to the active roster ahead of Sunday's matchup, helped halt Arizona's chances of pulling off a double-score scenario at the tail end of the second quarter — as the defensive tackle (celebrating his 29th birthday on Sunday) helped swallow up Drake on a fourth-down play at New England's own 1-yard line, keeping it a three-point game in favor of Arizona entering the half.

"On the goal line, it's mano e mano, and just wanting to make a play and keep points off the board. ... It just so happened, the ball chose my gap and being a D tackle, you take pride in your gap," Spence said. "So the ball showed up and just made the play, got under (Arizona guard J.R.) Sweezy and knocked him back and then just made the play and took it into the half, took points off the board."

Spence, who teamed up with both Bentley and Lawrence Guy on the goal-line stop, might have been the poster boy of what was a complete effort from New England's defense determined to absolve itself from a porous performance against Houston just a week earlier. If New England has any hope of keeping its playoff hopes alive down the stretch, it's going to need more of the same from a unit looking to find some semblance of momentum going into the final weeks of the 2020 campaign.

"Everybody was crunk, full of emotions," Phillips said of the atmosphere in the Patriots' locker room after that second-quarter stop. "You come off a goal-line stand like that, those are the plays you see on commercials or in games and stuff and just being a part of goal-line stand, it's a great feeling. ... They have a ball with whatever many seconds left, it's fourth and one on the goal line — if they score and on top of that, they get the ball back.

"So it was just a big swing of momentum and a big swing in points. It was huge for us to be able to go out there and get the goal-line stand. You go into halftime now, everybody's amped up. And that's exactly what we needed for our team. All that was was a confidence builder. We knew we could do it, we just haven't been doing it in the past and we finally got it done today and it boosted our confidence even more."