The Patriots’ defense was torched by a dynamic, dual-threat quarterback in Week 11.
ESPN believes history will repeat itself Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
After falling to Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans last week, New England now will look to rebound against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. The 6-4 Cardinals also will be trying to bounce back from a loss after falling to the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks in a “Thursday Night Football” clash.
Cardinals reporter Josh Weinfuss is expecting a monster performance from Murray in Foxboro. In fact, Weinfuss believes Arizona’s star signal-caller will set a single-game career high in rushing yards.
“Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray will make up for his injured right shoulder with his feet,” Weinfuss wrote. “He’ll run for 125 yards — a career high — as the defense-minded Bill Belichick will be forced to pull out all the stops while trying to slow the young phenom.”
This will be New England’s third matchup against a mobile quarterback in as many weeks. Lamar Jackson racked up 55 yards on the ground in a losing effort, while Watson only ran for 36 but threw for 344 yards. Bill Belichick and Co. might go out of their way to subdue Murray as a runner, but as we’ve seen this season, the 2019 No. 1 overall pick is more than capable of getting it done with his arm.
The Patriots and Cardinals are slated to kick off at 1 p.m. ET.
