Taking a closer look at three key Patriots plays from Sunday's win over the Cardinals, that include:
- Cam Newton nearly made a big mistake on the eventual 4th-down score by James White, but Newton caught himself and David Andrews told him he was right and set the stage for the plunge
- Jason McCourty's tackle set the stage, but Lawrence Guy and Akeem Spence to star on the goal-line stand.
- Chase Winovich held the edge while the Cardinals imploded on a huge third-down play to set up the Patriots' chance to win the game
Let's breakdown the plays with video analysis:
#CYBERMONDAY BSJ DEAL EXTENDED: 40% off annual membership until midnight WEDNESDAY
4TH & 2 AT ARZ 7
(14:21) J.White right tackle for 7 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
This could have been a disaster, but they got it right in the end.
Ignore some of my commentary on the video about who was saying what. This is accurately what happened on the play:
So Newton got to the line and alerted the play (switched to the secondary play) for some reason, but caught himself. At some point, he noticed that the Cardinals were all screwed up with their numbers, with too many players (five over three) on the left, and not nearly enough on the right to account for White or Newton should he carry the ball, which he did.
From the TV copy of the game:
Newton: "Alert! Alert!"
Newton: "No, no, no, no, no!"
Andrews/Newton: "Reload! Reload!"
So the alert changed the play, but Newton quickly changed his mind and Andrews backed up what his QB was seeing by basically saying, "Yup, you're right ... run the called play, we have numbers over there."
This should have been a walk-in touchdown, but Michael Onwenu didn't seal the linebacker, which should have been easy for him.
Didn't matter. White bailed him out with his cutback.
3RD & 8 AT NE 8
(:36) (Shotgun) K.Murray pass short left to K.Johnson for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official reviewed the runner broke the plane ruling, and the play was REVERSED. (Shotgun) K.Murray pass short left to K.Johnson to NE 1 for 7 yards (J.McCourty, A.Butler). 10-second runoff
4TH & 1 AT NE 1
(:03) (Shotgun) J.Jones reported in as eligible. K.Drake up the middle to NE 1 for no gain (A.Spence, J.Bentley). The Replay Official reviewed the short of the goal line ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field stands.
First of all, a great tackle by Jason McCourty to hold up a player in KeeSean Johnson, who outweighs McCourty by 20 pounds. Also, nice job by both Adam Butler and Myles Bryant of going around the tackle of McCourty and getting on the other side to help hold up Johnson.
On the fourth-down play, Lawrence Guy not only held up the double team at the point of attack — which kept the right tackle from blocking Ja'Whaun Bentley, but Guy pushed them both back. That left Bentley free in the hole. And then newcomer Akeem Spence tossed the right guard, and helped keep Kenyon Drake out of the end zone to take 7 points off the board before halftime.
3RD & 2 AT NE 28(02:00)
(2:00) (Shotgun) K.Drake left end to NE 27 for 1 yard (J.Bentley; T.Hall).
I didn't really realize how big this play was live, since I figured the Cardinals would make the field goal and at least force overtime if the Patriots could answer.
But New England had only one timeout left. If the Cardinals convert here, they can basically get the clock to 30 seconds and kick a closer field goal.
New England holds, but equal parts good play from Chase Winovich and Stephon Gilmore, and terrible execution by the Cardinals.
First of all, TE Maxx Williams basically blocks no one. He should have cracked on Winovich or Terez Hall. He did nothing.
RG JR Sweezy, a terrible player who I can't believe is still in the league, gets held up by Winovich at the point of attack and Winovich helps bottleneck the traffic. The other TE, Dan Arnold, gets caught up with Sweezy and doesn't get out on Gilmore, who forces Drake back where Bentley makes the tackle.
New England takes its final timeout at 1:52, and snaps their first play at 1:47.
That doesn't happen if the Patriots don't hold on third down.