Patriots fall to Cardinals, 30-17, for fourth straight loss

BOSTON -- The New England Patriots were once again outclassed by a not-so-great team on Sunday, falling to the Cardinals, 30-17, in Glendale, Arizona. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye and cornerback Christian Gonzalez were once again the only bright spots for the Patriots, who have now lost four straight. 

Maye was solid again as he completed 19 of his 23 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown, and he ran in a score late in the fourth quarter. Gonzalez did a solid job locking up Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., breaking up a pair of potential touchdown passes to the talented rookie.

But it was nowhere near enough as the New England defense struggled to make stops in the second half, surrendering a pair of long touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. It was the same story for the Patriots, as missed tackles and untimely penalties bit them hard. 

James Conner ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals, while quarterback Kyler Murray went 23-of-30 for 224 yards. 

Arizona finished 10-for-15 on third down and went 3-for-4 in the red zone on Sunday. The New England defense played tough early on and forced the Cardinals to settle for field goals, but fell apart late in the game. 

The Patriots scored twice in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach to make the final score look better, but Sunday's loss was never really close. New England was 0-for-6 on third down, and had 11 plays that went for no gain or negative yardage.

The Cardinals kept their playoff hopes on life support as they improved to 7-7 with the win. The Patriots, meanwhile, fell to 3-11 on the season with three games to go.

How the Patriots lost to the Cardinals in Week 15

The Patriots had a promising first drive, but it was derailed by a Layden Robinson holding penalty that took a first down off the board. A few plays later, Joey Slye missed a 53-yard field goal, his seventh miss of the season. 

The Cardinals got a field goal from former Patriot Chad Ryland on their first possession, and after forcing a New England punt, added seven points in a very unconventional way on their second possession. Running back Greg Dortch fumbled into the end zone, but Arizona offensive lineman Jonah Williams was able to fall onto the ball and get his right shoulder down inbounds before rolling out of the back of the end zone to give the Cardinals a 10-0 edge.   

The Cardinals were threatening to add seven points to their lead just before halftime, but Gonzalez knocked a potential touchdown out of the hands of Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end zone. Arizona settled for a 35-yard field goal, and took a 13-3 lead into the break.

That scene repeated itself at the end of Arizona's first drive of the second half as well. The Cardinals marched down the field on a 12-yard run by Conner and a 13-yard catch-and-run by Dortch (plus another 15 yards when Deatrich Wise was flagged for a horse collar tackle on what would have been a sack of Murray), but Gonzalez wrapped up Harrison Jr. again in the end zone and Murray's pass fell incomplete. Ryland kicked a 40-yard field goal to give Arizona a 16-3 lead.

The Patriots got all the way down to the Arizona 4-yard line on their first possession of the second half. Antonio Gibson helped get them there with a nice 29-yard run, but was stuffed on a third-and-1 run from the 4-yard line. Desperate to find the end zone, the Patriots went for it on fourth-and-1, but Rhamondre Stevenson ran into a pile of bodies and was also stopped for no gain. The Cardinals took over deep in their own territory.

The New England defense got a stop on third-and-6, as Murray lofted up a terrible desperation pass on the run that was picked off by Jonathan Jones. But Anfernee Jennings was flagged for a Roughing the Passer on the play (he got the QB with a helmet-to-helmet hit as he came down after trying to defend Murray's pass) which took that interception off the board and gave the Cardinals a fresh set of downs.

Murray was sent to the blue medical tent after that play, and the Patriots were able to force a punt three plays later. The defense bounced back well after that Jennings penalty, but the offense didn't take advantage. Maye went to Kayshon Boutte over midfield on second-and-10, but the receiver bobbled the ball right into the hands of Cardinals corner Sean Murphy-Bunting for an interception. 

The Cardinals marched 55 yards down the field after that gift, with a pair of big plays on third downs. Murray hit tight end Trey McBride with a nice over-the-shoulder pass for 29 yards on a third-and-4 from midfield, and then Conner for 12 yards on a third-and-3 to set Arizona up at the New England 1. Conner capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown on third-and-goal to make it a 23-3 game early in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots offense finally found the end zone on their next possession, as Maye showed off his big arm and his creativity on the drive. He threw a beautiful deep ball to Kendrick Bourne for a 37-yard connection down to the Arizona 6, and a few plays later the QB scrambled before shoveling a touchdown to DeMario Douglas in the end zone.

But the New England defense gave up a 70-yard touchdown drive on Arizona's next possession. Murray connected with McBride for two more third-down conversions (pickups of nine yards and 29 yards) and Conner ran in another one-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 30-10 lead.

Maye ran in a five-yard touchdown of his own with 1:55 to play, capping off a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive for the Patriots to make it a 30-17 game, but it was too little, too late for New England.

What's next for the Patriots?

New England remains on the road in Week 16, when they'll visit the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns --  and ran for two other scores -- in a 48-42 win over the Lions in Detroit on Sunday, as the Bills improved to 11-3 on the year. 

The Patriots split their two games with the Bills last season, but haven't won in Buffalo since that wild and windy 14-10 win on Monday Night Football during the 2021 season.

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