On Sunday the 4-6 New England Patriots host the 6-4 Arizona Cardinals at Gillette Stadium.
Date: Sunday, November 29, 2020
Game Time: 1:00 PM EST
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough MA
Network: FOX
All-time record: Series tied 7-7
When They Last Met…
Patriots 23-21 Cardinals
September 11, 2016
With Tom Brady serving the first of his four-game suspension for his role in “Deflategate”, Jimmy Garoppolo started in his place.
It didn’t take long for him to get off to the perfect start, on the Patriots first drive, Garoppolo saw Chris Hogan open deep and found him for a 37-yard touchdown.
A few possessions later, Stephen Gostkowski added three more to the score after converting a 47-yard field goal. The Pats had the ball again until Markus Golden’s hit Garoppolo caused a fumble, which Arizona recovered.
Arizona finally got something going on offense as Carson Palmer found the future HOF’er Larry Fitzgerald for the touchdown. HT Patriots 10-7 Cardinals
A nice play by Malcolm Mitchell got the Patriots deep into Cardinals territory early in the third, LeGarrette Blount then pounded his way in for the 8-yard touchdown.
After forcing Arizona to punt their next possession, Blount coughed up the ball on a run play, giving the Cards another chance from a turnover. Palmer made a couple of nice passes to move into the Pats redzone, David Johnson then ran it in for the one-yard score.
The Patriots replied with a field goal to re-gain the lead early in the fourth quarter. Johnson continued to have a good game for Arizona, he and Palmer orchestrated a brilliant drive downfield before Palmer found Fitzgerald again for a one-yard touchdown pass, giving Arizona their first lead of the game.
Garoppolo showed signs he could be the next in line to Brady’s throne as he made some excellent plays to keep a spirited drive downfield alive for the Pats. They could only settle for a field goal in the end as Gostkowski gave the Patriots the lead once again following a 32-yarder.
The Cardinals worked their way into field goal range with 41 seconds left in the game, down by two. Chandler Catanzaro skewed the resulting kick left of the uprights handing the win to New England. Final Patriots 23-21 Cardinals
Performances
NE
QB Jimmy Garoppolo 24/33 – 264 YDS – 1 TD
RB LeGarrette Blount 22 ATT – 70 YDS – 1 TD
WR Chris Hogan 3/4 – 60 YDS – 1 TD
WR Julian Edelman 6/6 – 66 YDS – 1 TD
ARI
QB Carson Palmer 24/37 – 271 YDS – 2 TD
RB David Johnson – 16 ATT – 89 YDS – 1 TD – 4/6 – 43 YDS
WR Larry Fitzgerald 8/10 – 81 YDS – 2 TD
How The Patriots Win
This game is winnable for the Patriots, but they’ll have to be at their best to do it.
A key match-up will be Stephon Gilmore against DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins has been electric for Arizona this season as he leads the NFL with 912 reception yards. Gilmore has had an up and down year up until this point, but, having a strong game and shutting down Hopkins is one major key to the Patriots having any chance of winning on Sunday, and I think he can do it.
-Side note on Hopkins, he’s missed practice this week with an illness, this would be a huge loss for them if he was unable to go on Sunday, will continue to monitor.
Something the Pats have done fairly well this year is running the ball effectively, but last week that seemed to stop. It needs to get going again this week, with Burkhead done for the season, expect Michel back to help Harris lead the ground attack, should help open the passing game up a little more also.
Kyler Murray has been both excellent and average at times through-out this season, the Pats will need to restrict him from making run plays and keeping the ball. Also, the pressure is key to restrict Murray from getting into any rhythm, last week, they failed to put any pressure at all on Watson, and we know how that turned out. Murray has been limited this week in practice but should suit up on gameday.
TSM’s 5 Keys To Victory-
-0 Turnovers
-Restricting Murray
-Gilmore shutting down Hopkins
-Big run game
-Better coaching
Player Spotlight – Kyle Dugger
Kyle Dugger was the Patriots’ first pick in this year’s draft and has gradually earned more and more game time.
There was some initial skepticism as Dugger had played his entire collegiate career at Div 2 Lenoir–Rhyne, and many expected a different choice to the one that was made with the 37th overall pick.
Dugger was taken high for a reason, he was a physical specimen and was a man among boys during his senior year. His performances earned him the Cliff Harris Award, given to the best Division II defensive player.
After having a solid camp, Dugger’s initial impact for the team stuttered as he dealt with injuries, but in recent weeks, he’s been more involved on the defense. Cleary, he can play in this league, I’m hoping he can continue to get game experience for the remainder of this season and contend for the starting safety job next season.
Familiar Faces
Former Patriots
Players
LB Chandler Jones (2012-15 – Won Super Bowl XLIX with Patriots)
RB D.J Foster (2016-17 – Won Super Bowl LI with Patriots)
Coaching Staff
HC Kliff Kingsbury (2003 – Drafted in the sixth-round and won Super Bowl XXXVIII with Patriots)
Former Cardinals
Players
QB Brian Hoyer (2012)
CB Justin Bethel (2012-2017)
WR Damiere Byrd (2019)
OL Korey Cunningham (2018)
TE Jordan Thomas (2020)
Broken Records
Here’s some milestones that could be surpassed on Sunday.
QB Cam Newton
With one more rushing touchdown this season, Newton will become the 11th Patriot to rush for double-digit TDs in a single season.
RB James White
-Needs two touchdown receptions to tie Larry Garron (26) as the most all-time in Patriots history for touchdown receptions by a running back.
S Devin McCourty
With his next interception, Devin McCourty (28) will tie Ron Hall, Roland James, and Fred Marion for third all-time in Patriots history with 29 career
interceptions.
[…] Check out my preview for today’s match up here. […]