I’m surprised the game was not abandoned mid-way through given how many injuries occurred. The New England Patriots kept their playoff hopes alive as they were able to beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-13 in one of the most injury-inducing games I’ve seen all year.
That was a tough game to watch. With such important players going down with injuries, notably Kyler Murray, Rhamondre Stevenson, Devante Parker, Devin McCourty, Jack Jones, Marco Wilson, and Zach Allen, it was hard not to separate the on-field play from the numerous, devasting injuries that occurred to the superstars.
Like I mentioned, Kyler Murray is now done for the season with an ACL tear after he only played three snaps in opening possession of the game, impressive rookie CB Jack Jones went out with a ‘bone bruise’, and Rhamondre Stevenson’s great second season might be over too with the ankle injury he sustained.
Now, the Cardinals season was already over as they came into this game with a 4-8 record but losing Kyler Murray to such a devastating injury is an indescribable loss to this organization. Already suffering a setback season from the past few years under Kingsbury and Murray, the Cardinals now look destined for a roster rebuild with Muray out until at least November of next year (at the earliest).
Obviously, Kingsbury is not the guy to bring a Super Bowl to the desert, key roster contributors are either old, injury-prone, or both (i.e.: J.J. Watt, A.J. Green, Zack Ertz, Rodney Hudson), and now the franchise QB, who relies on his legs and athleticism, might never be the same QB again.
Everything the Cardinals have built these last few years under Kingsbury has blown up in their faces, and the former Texas Tech head coach must face the consequences.
Simply put, Kingsbury has never been an NFL head coach. His college-esque schemes were only destined to work for a year or two before NFL defense caught onto what he was doing, and then he was utterly screwed as he had nothing else up his sleeve.
This game proved it as Bill Belichick and the Pats defense destroyed Kingsbury and his offense by holding them to under 350 yards of total offense, less than 220 passing yards, only 19 First Downs, and 4/14 on 4th down, even though the Cardinals had more TOP (33:31) and the Patriots offense is an abomination (but more on that in a second).
Now, I’ll give Kingsbury a little slack as he was forced to use Colt McCoy for the entire game, and no one can mistake McCoy for a starting QB in this league. The veteran journeyman had a bad night as he completed 27/40 passes for 246 yards, 1 INT, and he fumbled the ball but was lucky James Conner recovered it.
He just couldn’t connect with Deandre Hopkins (7 REC, 79 yards), who had a dreadful game in his own right, or Robbie Anderson (4 REC, 50 yards) consistently, while James Conner didn’t breach the 100-yard mark as he finished the game with 15 CAR for 85 yards and 1 TD.
Still, the real story of the game (aside from the injuries) was not Colt McCoy or the Cardinals offense, but rather the defense they faced off against. Say what you will about NE’s offense (and I will), but this team’s defense is legit.
Matthew Judon (4 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 QB hits) and Josh Uche (5 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 TFL, 4 QB hits) went off against McCoy and the Cards as they helped the Pats rack up 6 sacks and 9 QB hits, making McCoy’s night as miserable as possible.
Judon and Uche have really blossomed into two of the league’s best pass rushers in the years since Brady’s departure from the Patriots as they both sit in the Top-10 NFL sack leader list, with the pair combining for the most sacks as a duo in the NFL with 24.5.
These two don’t get a lot of credit in the media as the Patriots have become an afterthought since the end of the 2000’s and 2010’s dynasties, but the NFL world should pay attention to Judon, Uche, and the Patriots defense after this performance.
You don’t rack up 85 tackles, 6 sacks, 6 TFL, 4 PD, 9 QB hits, 1 INT, 2 FUM, and 1 scoop-and-score FUM REC TD in a single game without having the talent of an elite defense, regardless of the opponent your up against.
And now onto one of the most baffling things I’ve ever seen in the NFL: the 2022 New England Patriots offense.
Bluntly, this offense SUCKS…needlessly.
It really baffles me how this blatant, arrogance-driven self-sabotage by Belichick was allowed by Robert Kraft and the rest of the Patriots upper management (which is really just Robert Kraft and Belichick, so that probably explains it) during the offseason. How hard is it really to bring in a veteran offensive play caller, who has experience with young quarterbacks and limited skill position talent, to run an offense for a season?
Matt Patricia and Joe Judge ARE FRAUDS! Those two FOOLS shouldn’t be anywhere near a football field after their failures in Detroit and New York. I now feel bad for Mac Jones for saying that he was a bust as how could anyone ever hope to be a good quarterback when you have Dumb and Dumber coaching you?
Now, I don’t mind having Jones running a short passing scheme as he is a statically superior quarterback when he throws the ball within 20 yards versus over 20 yards, but the sheer number of screen passes and 5-yard out routes has become painful to watch.
Patricia and Judge are even worse than Kingsbury when it comes to having backup plans when things don’t go right on offense…because they don’t. It’s just throw a screen pass here, an out-route there, a run down the middle for good measure, and hope to pick up enough yard per play for a First Down. That’s it.
There’s a reason why Vance Joseph, the DC of the Cardinals, not only called out the Patriots offense as predictable in his pregame presser, but also backed it up last night with his gameplan.
Don’t let the Pats 27 points fool you into thinking that they have a competent offense as they only scored two offensive touchdowns, with Nick Folk and the Patriots defense accounted for 13 (nearly half) of the Patriots total point tally.
I can’t wait for the Patriots to get rid of Patricia and Judge when this season is over as the very sight of those two bumbling around on the sidelines gets my blood boiling. And I know I’m not the only one as Mac Jones showed his frustration with those two as he was caught screaming at them on the sidelines again.
Yes, Jones is a limited deep-ball passer, but he should be given a lot more freedom in the intermediate passing game (10-20 yards) to make this offense a little more unpredictable. Just do something different, Patricia and Judge, or else the Patriots (7-6) will fail to make the playoffs as they face an extremely tough final stretch of the season against the Bills, Bengals, Dolphins, and Raiders.
As for the Cardinals (4-9), do I need to say anything else about them? They’re dreadful and will need to draft another QB with Kyler Murray’s future up in the air, though doing so in the 1st round or a later round will be the question of the offseason for Arizona.
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