Arizona Cardinals wideout DeAndre Hopkins made a game-altering mistake that led to a momentum-changing play for the New England Patriots on "Monday Night Football."
It didn't sit well with the talented receiver after Arizona's 27-13 defeat.
"I try to be perfect so for me I let myself down today," Hopkins told reporters in reference to his third-quarter fumble, per a team-provided transcript. "I let coach down, I let the guys down. I haven't fumbled all year so it's definitely a reminder of protecting the ball."
With the game tied 13-all, Hopkins caught a shallow crosser from quarterback Colt McCoy and tried to avoid Patriots safety Kyle Dugger in an attempt to gain extra yards. Hopkins, palming the football with one hand as he made a move toward the sideline, was stripped by Dugger and the ball popped loose. New England linebacker Raekwon McMillan then scooped up the bouncing ball and ran 23 yards down the sideline for a Patriots defensive touchdown at a time their offense struggled. It gave the Patriots a 20-13 lead with 5:32 left in the contest and thus forced McCoy and company to play from behind in the slogfest.
"I think watching the replay, the guy, it's a game of inches but his thumb hit it," Hopkins said in reference to Dugger. "But it's on me, just trying to make a play and wasn't getting a lot of completions, so once I got the ball I was trying to do something with it. That's my fault."
The Patriots forced a McCoy interception on the next possession and turned it into a two-possession lead after a five-play, 63-yard drive highlighted by a completion to tight end Hunter Henry. New England took a 27-13 lead less than one minute into the fourth and it proved to be too much for the Cardinals offense to overcome.
"He hasn't done that much but in that situation he knows you've got to make sure you secure that," Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said of Hopkins' fumble. "It just can't happen in that situation."
The win helped the 7-6 Patriots jump back into the AFC playoff standings as New England currently holds the seventh and final spot. The 4-9 Cardinals, however, just about sealed their 2022 fate while losing quarterback Kyler Murray to a knee injury just three plays into Monday's contest.
New England now will take on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15 while the Cardinals travel to the Denver Broncos.
