Six Takeaways From Depleted Patriots’ Gritty Win Over Cardinals

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The New England Patriots withstood a tidal wave of injuries to key players to score a hard-earned victory over the Arizona Cardinals on “Monday Night Football,” scoring 20 unanswered points to win 27-13 at State Farm Stadium.

The win propelled the 7-6 Patriots back into the seventh and final AFC spot, allowing them to control their own destiny with four games remaining. They’ll practice in Tucson, Ariz., this week before visiting the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Here are six at-the-whistle takeaways from Monday night’s win:

1. First quarter from hell
By the time the opening quarter was complete, the Cardinals were down to their backup quarterback, and the Patriots were missing their top two running backs, their top two wide receivers and two of their top three cornerbacks.

The first to exit was Arizona QB Kyler Murray, who suffered a non-contact knee injury on the opening drive and had to be carted to the locker room. The Cardinals ruled him out a short while later. Veteran backup Colt McCoy replaced Murray.

Then, the Patriots lost wideout DeVante Parker and backfield workhorse Rhamondre Stevenson in quick succession, with the latter suffering a head injury and the latter injuring his ankle. With Jakobi Meyers (concussion) and Damien Harris (thigh) already inactive, losing Parker and Stevenson left New England with a perilously thin skill-position group.

Stevenson was able to return in the second quarter, but only briefly, with the Patriots officially ruling him out shortly after halftime. Parker missed the rest of the game.

Standout rookie cornerback Jack Jones also sustained an early knee injury. After multiple trips to the sideline medical tent, he eventually exited toward the locker room and did not return, leaving the Patriots — who already were without injured starting corner Jalen Mills (inactive, groin) — short-staffed in the secondary against the Cardinals’ talented passing attack.

2. Defense delivers
Yes, it helped that they were facing McCoy, not Murray, for most of this game. And the Patriots struggled at times to contain running back James Conner and standout receiver DeAndre Hopkins. But this was a return to form for their defense after less-than-stellar showings against Minnesota and Buffalo.

The Patriots had six sacks split between four players, one interception and a forced fumble (by safety Kyle Dugger) that linebacker Raekwon McMillan returned for a touchdown, breaking a 13-13 tie with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Arizona also went 4-for-14 on third down, 1-for-5 on fourth down and 1-for-3 in the red zone — areas in which New England’s D had struggled of late.

3. Rookie RBs provide a spark
Stevenson’s injury left the Patriots in the unfamiliar position of needing to rely on rookie running backs Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris, who entered Monday night with just five career carries for 9 yards between them. When Damien Harris missed the previous week’s game against Buffalo, New England chose to keep Stevenson on the field for all but one snap rather than play either of his first-year backups.

But on Monday night, they didn’t have a choice. With both of their top options unavailable, they needed the rookies to step up. And they did.

Kevin Harris, a sixth-round pick out of South Carolina, powered the Patriots’ first touchdown drive with hard runs of 9, 9 and 14 yards. Harris ran through a facemask penalty on his second carry and powered into the end zone on his third.

Harris was lucky to avoid disaster late in the second quarter when he botched a handoff with Mac Jones. He jumped on the ball, and Nick Folk drilled a 51-yard field goal one play later.

Strong, whose most notable contribution before Monday was his costly running-into-the-kicker penalty against Minnesota, didn’t see the field on offense until the second half. But it didn’t take him long to make his own impact. The fourth-rounder caught a 16-yard screen pass on his first snap and took off for 44 yards down the sideline on his second, showing off the top-tier speed that made him a highly prolific rusher at South Dakota State.

Strong later added a short rushing touchdown, the first of his young career.

The Patriots will be crossing their fingers as they await word on Stevenson’s status, but the youngsters proved Monday that they’re at least capable of contributing when called upon.

4. Marcus Jones, all-purpose player
Jones was an offensive novelty in the Patriots’ Week 13 loss to Buffalo. On Monday night, he became a true three-way player.

Thanks to the injuries to Meyers, Parker, Mills and Jack Jones, the rookie cornerbacks saw significant playing time on defense, offense and special teams against Arizona. He caught one pass for 12 yards as a receiver, with the Patriots often sending him in motion before the snap. He returned two kickoffs for 47 yards and one punt for 7 yards. And on defense, he saw what likely was his largest workload of the season and provided a momentum-shifting play, intercepting a McCoy pass that fluttered after Josh Uche made contact with the Cardinals QB.

The Patriots scored on the ensuing drive to take a 14-point fourth-quarter lead.

Jones also decked tight end Trey McBride with the most seismic hit of the game. McBride is six inches taller and 60 pounds heavier than the 5-foot-8, 185-pound defensive back.

Cardinals receiver Marquise Brown did beat Jones for what would have been a fourth-down conversion in Patriots territory, but Brown dropped McCoy’s pass.

5. “Tons of screens”
That’s how Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph described the Patriots’ “very conservative,” Matt Patricia-led offense last week, and his assessment was accurate.

Patricia dialed up screen after screen after screen against Arizona. Fifteen of Jones’ 35 pass attempts were to targets at or behind the line of scrimmage, per the NFL’s official in-game charting. He didn’t throw a pass that traveled more than 15 yards downfield until his final throw of the first half. The Patriots gained one or fewer first downs on six of their 11 possessions and moved the chains twice on two others, and Jones expressed his frustration with multiple F-bombs that were visible (and, in one case, audible) on ESPN’s game broadcast.

Some of the Patriots’ most productive plays came when Jones was able to push the ball downfield. His two strikes down the seam to tight end Hunter Henry gained 30 and 39 yards, with the latter setting up Strong’s touchdown.

After that drive, Jones and Patricia could be seen hugging and smiling on the Patriots’ sideline.

6. Assorted observations
— After failing to score a single red-zone touchdown in their previous three games, the Patriots went 2-for-4 on Monday, exploiting Arizona’s last-ranked red-zone defense. They were 2-for-3 before ending the game with a series of red-zone kneeldowns.

— Breakout star Uche registered three more sacks, giving him 10 in his last six games. He also had the QB hit that facilitated Marcus Jones’ interception.

— Kendrick Bourne, whose criticism of Patricia’s play-calling last week made headlines, caught all five of his targets for 47 yards.

— Linebacker Jahlani Tavai had two pass breakups, including a crucial one on fourth-and-1.

— Rough game for Nelson Agholor, who had two drops. One wiped out a would-be first down, and the other nearly was returned for a Cardinals touchdown before officials overturned their initial ruling.

— Special teams helped set up McMillan’s scoop-and-score. Arizona started that drive at its own 6 after an excellent Michael Palardy punt and a smothering tackle by Matthew Slater and Brenden Schooler.