2022 Week 14 Game Recap: Patriots 27, Cardinals 13 (by Ross Jacobs)
Well, Kyler Murray tore his ACL on the 3rd play of the game and that changed the nature of this game and the future of the franchise. Let's talk about the game first before we get into the long term implications.
Early on the Cardinals actually looked like the slightly better team. They had a few decent drives and had to settle for field goals, but they were moving the ball better than New England. The Cardinals actually led 13-10 at the half and might have had an even bigger lead, but on 4th down deep in New England's territory, Colt McCoy had an open man in the flat and tried to lay it over the defender but didn't get enough air on the ball and turned it over. If Arizona scores there maybe this game turns out differently.
In the 2nd half things are still going back and forth, neither team is very good so it's just a mess of dump/screen passes by both teams. The Patriots got Arizona backed up deep and Hopkins caught a ball over the middle and didn't secure it well while trying to juke a defender, the ball was knocked out of his hand, and the Patriots scooped it up and walked it into the endzone for a score. 20-13 Patriots. A couple of drives later Mac Jones found a wide open Hunter Henry for a big play which led to another short TD plunge and it was too much for the Cardinals.
I'd say these two teams are relatively equal in ability, but New England is much more disciplined and didn't beat themselves with dumb penalties and turnovers. That's usually the deciding factor in these type matchups and it was here too.
Arizona falls to 4-9, a complete and total collapse that RC and Chris predicted this past summer. This is a disaster of an organization and things are getting murkier by the week. Steve Keim has mysteriously stepped away from the team, coincidentally or not on the same day that paperwork was filed by fired offensive line coach Sean Kugler who alleges that he was fired without cause and that it may have been a case of “mistaken identity.” The whole situation is totally bizarre and we'll find out more as time goes on. I don't want to speculate without more information, but it's just one more headache for a team swirling down the drain. Throw in the Murray ACL tear and Arizona is burning into the ground.
Murray, who just signed a 5 year $230 million deal with $160 million guaranteed, is perpetually hurt and underperforming, is a petulant child that would rather be playing video games than working on his game, and now he's looking at a full year of recovery from an injury that is going to rob him of his superpower, his speed...and now the GM and head coach that brought him in are likely in hot water on the field and perhaps legally as well. We discussed this past off-season why you should have sold Murray and moved onto better things in dynasty and every fear we had about that situation has come true. If you moved off of him, congratulations...if you didn't, well it's probably too late now.
Anybody with a brain isn't going to want anything to do with this situation now. I don't know what the resolution to all of this will be, there's just too many moving parts, but I know it won't be anything good. Murray isn't a hard worker normally, there's no chance he's going to bust his ass to get ready for next season with this injury, not with all that money in his pocket. He got his...I wouldn't be shocked if he never played another down for Arizona. Kingsbury isn't long for this world and will head back to his choice of college soon. Murray isn't going to work well with any other coach and nobody worth their salt is going to want to deal with his attitude. If Murray is gone you can forget about anything else in Arizona for fantasy. If you have anyone from this team I'd dump them now before reality sets in during the off-season. This whole thing is going to get blown up and the future is a complete unknown. None of the skill position guys are so good that you have to hold onto them regardless of the situation. I don't want to get left holding the bag.
The Patriots have somehow climbed to 7-6 and have an outside chance at the playoffs but I don't think they're going to get there. They should lose to Cincy and Buffalo at least, Miami is winnable but they are probably dogs there unless Tua is totally broken again, and then the game with Josh McDaniels and the Raiders this week. On paper the Patriots should be favored but McDaniels knows the Patriots well and that could neutralize things plus Vegas might be getting both Waller and Renfrow back. I think at best the Patriots win 2 more game, but 0 or 1 is more likely and that won't be enough to make the playoffs.
New England isn't going to completely fall apart, not as long as Belichick is there, no matter how many times people predict it. Belichick is simply too good to allow a total collapse. But the days of the Patriots dynasty are certainly over without Brady.
Fantasy Player Notes:
– Rhamondre Stevenson got hurt here early on and tried to come back for a series but left again shortly after. He's dealing with an ankle injury and missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday but did get in a LP on Friday so it's possible he could play. If he does it's possible he'll be spelled more often than normal. If you have other options at RB it's probably wise to err on the side of caution and sit Stevenson for the week unless you desperately need a big day to carry you through the playoffs.
If Stevenson is out and Damien Harris misses another game, Pierre Strong is definitely the Patriots back to own of him and Kevin Harris. I love Harris and his style, he's an absolute tank, but he will only be used on the ground and right now the offense isn't built for that. They are not opening up any holes and the passing game is built completely around the screen game. Stevenson has been an RB1 this year because he's catching so many passes, not for his rushing work. That is Strong's game and he looks more than capable of filling in. Strong's stat line against Arizona looks great, 5-70-1 on the ground, but most of it came on a perfectly blocked draw play. He looked ok enough otherwise.
– Speaking of the passing offense, I haven't watched much of the Patriots this year so I was curious to see what things looked like, especially after seeing that video of Mac Jones yelling about “throw the f*****g ball” two weeks ago. Well, I have to say I agree. He's got every right to be frustrated with this situation. One of Belichick's lesser moments was giving Matt Patricia play-calling duties. Why on earth he decided a defensive coordinator that completely bombed as a head coach should be calling offensive plays, I have no idea, but it predictably hasn't worked out well. I'd estimate 70-80% of the pass calls here were screens. I don't know if Patricia has no confidence in Mac or the offensive line or the receivers, but whatever the reason, the gameplan is stupidly simple and painfully obvious to the defense.
If this is what the offense has been all year then it's completely unfair to judge Mac and call him a bust just yet. I've never said he was a superstar, but I do believe he can be a capable midrange QB like a Carr or Jimmy or Tua. You see what Tua has done this year with a decent scheme and good talent around him. Mac could be that with a better situation. No, he's not Brady or Burrow or Mahomes or Herbert and never will be, but you can win some games with Mac provided you help him out a little. I'm not sure he's ever going to get that in New England though. Situation matters far more for QBs than most people realize.
– DeVante Parker flashed his dominance again early on but then landed awkwardly and had to leave the game with a concussion. In his place Agholor was the obvious go-to receiver for Mac but again most if it was screen passes. Hard to start him if Nate Hobbs is playing for the Raiders this week but it's something to consider if you're desperate.
– The Patriots have finally discovered that Marcus Jones can be an offensive weapon so how do they deploy him? One short catch and run and then never again. For a team that's desperate for offense you'd think they'd lean into anything creative to see if they can get a spark but nope, they use their Tyreek-lite once and shelve him.
– The Cardinals have gotten ripped up by TEs all year, like they do every year, and Hunter Henry did have two big plays attacking the seams, but leave it to the genius Matt Patricia to only run that play a couple times instead of hammering it over and over like he should have. You notice a pattern here?
– James Conner's last 4 games: 75 carries, 316 yards rushing, 4 TDs, 14 catches, 78 receiving yards, and 1 receiving TD...20.9 ppg in ppr which is right in line with what we thought we might get when we drafted him in the 3rd round this year. Sometimes you can be absolutely right and it still doesn't work out because a guy gets hurt. Conner has a tough remaining schedule but he's healthy and getting a ton of touches including a lot of checkdowns from McCoy. Fire him up in your playoffs.
– The Arizona passing game with McCoy looks a lot like the passing game with Kyler, lots of short passes most of it going to Hopkins but Hollywood getting his fair share too. Won't be a ton of TDs but plenty of ppr work for both. Dortch was a ghost and barely played because apparently Robbie Anderson and AJ Green need more development time...
IDP Notes:
– Josh Uche has been on fire since returning from injury in week 8. Since then he has 10 sacks, 21 tackles, and a FF. He had no stats against the Jets and very little against the Vikings so he's still quite streaky apparently. Maybe it's a matchup thing, I'd have to watch more of him to be sure. He was abusing the Arizona tackles and so was Judon. I'm not sure there's anyone on Denver that can take advantage quite the same way though.
Snap Counts of Interest:
72 = Brown
64 = Hopkins
45 = Green
23 = Anderson
4 = Dortch
71 = Conner
55 = McBride
57 = Agholor
52 = Thornton
42 = Bourne
29 = Harris
19 = Strong
39 = Henry
