After a lousy defensive performance in Week 11, the Patriots were able to keep one of the NFL's most dynamic quarterbacks at bay Sunday afternoon.
Kyler Murray didn't make much noise in Arizona's Week 12 loss to New England at Gillette Stadium. The Cardinals quarterback was limited to 170 passing yards and 31 rushing yards with no touchdowns. It marked the first game Murray was held without a score this season. The second-year pro accounted for multiple touchdowns in each of Arizona's first 10 games on the campaign.
Perhaps Murray's ineffectiveness wasn't entirely due to New England's successful defensive game plan and execution, however. The 23-year-old was limited in practice in the week leading up to the contest due to a right shoulder injury. But after the game, Murray suggested he wasn't held back by the ailment.
"I didn’t adjust anything, like I said, if they play me, I have to hand the ball off," Murray told reporters, per Pro Football Talk. "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 way 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."
The Cardinals now have lost three of their last four games and are clinging onto the third NFC Wild Card spot. An important divisional matchup awaits Arizona on Sunday when it will host the Los Angeles Rams.
