BSJ Game Report: Patriots 27, Cardinals 13 - New England's defense overwhelms error-filled Arizona

Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ win over the Cardinals in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Patriots get the job done: In a must-win game for any playoff hopes — but also for team morale for the final four games of the season — the Patriots found a way to get the job done in an injury-filled game that was far from a Picasso. The Patriots had five of their six sacks in the second half once they grabbed the lead, and the Patriots took the lead on a fumble return for a touchdown by Raekwon McMillan on a gifted turnover by DeAndre Hopkins without a defender causing it. It was one of several miscues for the Cardinals, but no one really cares — including the Patriots. They won the game, are now 7-6 and the 7th seed in the AFC, and will get ready for the Raiders.

"I'm proud of the way our defense hung in there," Bill Belichick said. "Made some big stops, and a turnover obviously with (DB) Kyle (Dugger) and (LB Raekwon) McMillan. Offensively, (we) played better. A tough break on the interception. (QB) Mac (Jones) got his arm hit but I thought we did some things better, but we still got a long way to go. Had some young players step up and make some significant plays in the game. It was good to get contributions from everybody."

Uche, defense puts stranglehold on Cardinals: Once the Patriots took the lead on the fumble return, the pass rush went to town on a Cardinals offensive line that has four backups starting. Josh Uche, who had three sacks, Matthew Judon (1.5) and Daniel Ekuale made life hell for Cardinals backup Colt McCoy, who took over for an injured Kyler Murray on the fourth play of the game.

"I told y’all I wasn’t the best pass rusher," Judon said of Uche. "People are going to have to block and if they don't and if they chip my side then they worry about me. (Patriots LB Josh) Uche would do that every week. I love the way he's playing, the confidence and poise and it's the most he's been able to play since he's been in the NFL. It's taken a toll on him, but he's going out there and having a lot of fun and success. We all knew it; we all knew what type of player he was. He was drafted pretty high here and now he's emerging and offensive lines will have to watch out."

"It's good to get out here with a win. I think we pitched a shutout in the second half and we scored. We got a couple turnovers that got the ball back to our offense. When they had a little momentum, they were rolling. I know their record doesn't show it, but that's a really good team. Well coached. It's good to get a win."

Said Kliff Kingsbury: "That really happened late. With our o-line and some of the injuries we had there, if you're on dimensional against that team it's going to be tough sledding and that's really where those started showing up. We got down a couple of scores, (then) they could pin their ears back and that's not what we're built to do right now with how it's set up."

The QBs in the Patriots' seven wins: Mitch Trubisky, Jared Goff, Jacoby Brissett, Zach Wilson (twice), Sam Ehlinger, McCoy.

"The self-inflicted stuff offensively was really bad tonight," said Kingsbury. "The illegal shifts on big plays, you can't do that. It's just unacceptable, and we've got to be better. No matter who's out there operating, no matter who's in—obviously there are some guys that are backups that are getting a lot of time. We've just got to execute at a high level and when you have a chance to make plays you have to make them."

Rookies shine for Patriots: The Patriots, very early, lost starters WR DeVante Parker (head), CB Jack Jones (knee) and RB Rhamondre Stevenson. In their place came rookies Tyquan Thornton (4 catches, 28 yards), Marcus Jones (first interception), Pierre Strong (5 carries, 70 yards, TD) and Kevin Harris (8 for 28, TD). The rookie RBs definitely added some pop, but Jones stuck out by playing three ways — 7 tackles on defense, pass defenses, 12-yard catch, three punt/kick returns. 

"Yeah, it was great," Belichick said. "They got an opportunity and made some big plays. We'll see if they can sustain it, show up week after week and people will start looking for them."

Kyler Murray leaves after 3 plays: The Cardinals, already banged up, lost QB Kyler Murray on the third play of the game due to a likely season-ending knee injury, forcing backup Colt McCoy to play the rest of the game. Obviously, that changed a lot of things in this game, as the Cardinals gained 18 yards on the first three plays. The Cardinals also lost RB James Conner at times and starting CB Marco Wilson.

TURNING POINT

Despite tying the game at 13-13 early in the third with six straight points, the tide had not yet turned in the game. The Cardinals, pinned at their 6-yard line, had already gained a first down and were threatening to move the ball more — the Patriots hadn't exactly stopped Arizona to that point — when DeAndre Hopkins just dropped the ball, Raekwon McMillan picked up and scored to give New England a lead it would not relinquish.

"It's tough, obviously," said Hopkins. "The fumble hurt us more than anything and I take responsibility for it, for that. I think that's where everything went downhill when they (The Patriots) got the momentum. It just seemed like it kept coming, so it's on me. I take full responsibility."

SECOND GUESS

Patriots had to burn a timeout after the second play of the second half — after a 2-yard loss — leading to this reaction from Mac Jones:

"The biggest thing is not letting it affect my play and bringing the best out of my guys," Jones said. "Today, I thought we all did a good job trying to play the next play, play the next series and (Senior Football Advisor/Offensive Line Coach) Matt (Patricia) did a great job. He's trying to call the game so that we can win. Sometimes, it might be this thing that people don't know about, like the quick passes for whatever reason and that's our game plan. We knew what we had to" do to win and he called a great game and stayed calm. He's a calm person, very stoic. We're just going to continue to grow together and do what we can to win games."

The biggest second guess that swung the entire game was from Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury. With a 13-7 lead, out of timeouts and with 36 seconds before halftime, Arizona passed up a 49-yard field goal and two-score lead to go for it. Were the Cardinals really going to score a TD with no timeouts? They could barely string three plays together. Instead of running the clock on the field goal and kicking off, Arizona turned it over there, giving life to New England, who would kick a field goal to make it 13-10 and would score the final 17 points.

"I liked the play call we had." Kingsbury said. "I thought we had a shot at it, and unfortunately they got a hand on it, but Matt's been a clutch kicker in this league for a long time. So that was just a decision based on the play call."

THREE UP

Josh Uche: A lot of the pressure the Patriots have generated this season has been on the cheap side with games and when they know the offense has to pass. While the scoreboard helped today, Uche did a really nice job winning one-on-one battles. Looked like the Patriots tried to get him one-on-one in space against LT Josh Jones and just let Uche go to work. It was good work, with one sack causing a big interception.

Marcus Jones: Played a lot of snaps in all three phases, and played well. His speed was a factor on offense at times, he held his own in the secondary, and he was solid on kick returns.

Pierre Strong: Had 70 yards — 21.3 percent of the Patriots' output on offense — and his big 44-yard run was big to take the stress off the offense.

THREE DOWN

Trent Brown: Got beaten several times, had at two penalties and at times didn't look like he wanted to be out there.

Nelson Agholor: Had at least three drops to catch just 5 of his 10 targets for 32 yards.

Jonathan Jones: Had two penalties, including a 39-yard pass interference.

INJURIES

WR DeVante Parker (head): Did not return. Kudos for Nelson Agholor for seeing his teammate was in distress and trying to get the officials' attention.

CB Jack Jones (knee): Went to the locker room and returned to the sideline to test it out, but was then ruled out of the game.

RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle): Got pinned under a defender in what looked like a high ankle sprain. Returned for one play but then was ruled out.

S Devin McCourty (shoulder): Left late in the game but told reporters after the game that he was just old.

TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Not an impressive victory, but take it and run to Vegas: Until the Patriots grabbed hold of the game in the second half, this had the feeling of things about to get really bad as Mac Jones was seen screaming at the sidelines again, there were a plethora of miscues, some curious playcalls — who wants a quick-game play, you, you? You call get one! — and the defense was having issues getting off the field. But in the end, the Cardinals shot both their feet and the Patriots were able to coast to a victory. Sometimes that's all it takes to turn things around. Now they need to get ready for Josh McDaniels and the Raiders, who know them well and have been waiting around for four extra days after playing Thursday night.

I'm fine with Mac Jones voicing his frustration, and I'm sure his teammates are too: He's trying to be the best QB he can be for the team, and he's been put into a difficult situation. That's tough enough, but when the plays aren't getting in on time and causing the team to take a timeout two plays into the second half, anyone would be frustrated at that. He's not a robot. I'm sure his teammates share his frustration and don't mind him giving it back to the coaches a bit to hold them accountable. I'm sure the coaches don't love it, but I'm not so sure they see much of the TV copy so maybe Mac knows that. ;)