Will Patriots show some urgency Sunday against the Cardinals?
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots are back in action Sunday, and will look to snap a three-game losing streak when they pay a visit to the Cardinals in Arizona.
The Cardinals have also lost three straight to fall to 6-7 on the season, and their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread heading into Sunday's matchup with the Patriots. New England can essentially end Arizona's playoff push with a win, the first of four weekends the Patriots will look to play spoiler to end the season.
But the Patriots want to do more than just ruin someone else's season. They want to close out this disappointing 2024 campaign on a high note and start building toward something much better next season. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye even highlighted the "urgency" that everyone is feeling entering the final stretch.
"Nobody wants a season like this year again," Maye said Wednesday. "I think it's two years in a row of a season like this, and you start to worry. I think there's definitely some urgency. You see it in those guys and you see it especially in the veterans and in me. As a quarterback, there's an urgency to get to that point and fix these things, work on them, get better, and use these last four games as a stepping stool."
That's a great mindset for the 22-year-old rookie and the rest of the team. He's determined to improve his play over the final month and become a better leader on and off the field. Continuing to build chemistry with his offensive weapons will help the brass figure out who they should build around and who they should jettison at the end of the season.
Even if the Patriots don't win any of their final four games, it will be important to play competitive football. Jerod Mayo has highlighted turnovers and red zone play (on both ends of the field) as areas that he wants to see drastic improvement in to close out the season.
The Cardinals are reeling right now, which will either make them dangerous on vulnerable on Sunday. Each of their three straight losses have been by a touchdown or less. Here's what we'll be watching for when the Patriots pay them a visit in Week 15.
Another Big Day For Maye?
Of course we're watching Drake Maye on Sunday. He remains the best thing about this Patriots team. And he could be in line for another big game.
The Cardinals defense has a similar zone scheme that the Colts threw at New England two weeks ago, and Maye ripped it to shreds by completing 80 percent of his passes for 238 yards and a touchdown. Arizona will present some challenges for Maye, with dangerous safety Budda Baker chief among them. He's got 10 pressures for the season and can really wreck an opposing team's gameplan. Maye will have to know where Baker is at all times, or he's going to end up on the ground or throwing a few more of those bad interceptions that he's been trying to cut out of his game.
Spreading the love should be the gameplan again. Tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper should see plenty of passes head their way, and Maye needs to continue to feed DeMario Douglas. It's also important for Maye to continue to build his relationship with veteran Kendrick Bourne, who has caught 11 of the 13 passes he's seen over the last three games.
But this is probably not the weekend that the Patriots will solve their red zone woes on offense. Entering Week 15, the Cardinals have allowed touchdowns on just 47.8 percent of their opponent's trips into the red zone, ranking fifth in the NFL. The Patriots have only scored touchdowns on 44.7 percent of their trips inside the 20 (ranking 30th in the NFL), and that number has dipped to just 36.4 percent over the last three games.
Make Murray Make Mistakes
On the flip side, the New England defense has to deal with Kyler Murray, another duel-threat quarterback the Patriots will have to keep in the pocket. He can quickly turn a scramble into a big gain, which is something the Patriots struggled with two weeks ago when Anthony Richardson ripped off a slew of infuriating first-down runs in a Week 13 loss to the Colts.
Maybe we'll see a lot of the Longhorn package and Brenden Schooler will be unleashed this Sunday.
Murray has been pretty solid this season, amassing 2,862 passing yards and 15 touchdowns while completing 68.4 percent of his attempts. He has some real solid targets in receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. (45 receptions for 655 yards and seven touchdowns) and Michael Wilson (39 receptions, 473 yards, four touchdowns) plus a severely underrated tight end in Trey McBride, who leads the team with 80 receptions for 851 yards.
Murray has also rushed for 444 yards and four touchdowns, so keeping him in the pocket is a big key. That's when Murray makes his mistakes, and he's been doing that a lot recently. He has just eight interceptions on the season, but five of them came over the last three weeks, including two on back-to-back throws in last week's loss to Seattle.
The Patriots defense hasn't been great at going to get the football, but have come up with turnovers in each of their last two games. Murray should give them a chance to extend that streak to three games on Sunday -- as long as the Patriots keep him in the pocket and don't let him run wild.
Stop That Run
Murray isn't Arizona's most dangerous runner though. That honor goes to veteran James Conner, who is having a spectacular season for the Cardinals. He can really get going downfield, racking up 863 rushing yards and five touchdowns over his first 13 games. He's averaging 4.3 yards per carry, and has added 333 receiving yards and a touchdown to give Conner a robust 1,196 yards from scrimmage. He's not super flashy, but the eight-year vet is extremely dangerous with the ball in his hands.
The Cardinals play a lot of two tight end sets, and when Conner gets going they utilize a good amount of play action. The Patriots run defense has been better in recent weeks, but Sunday will be a big test for Christian Barmore and Davon Godchaux in the front of the New England defense.
Young Players Putting Something Good On Tape
These next four weeks are incredibly important for young players on the New England roster. It will be a golden opportunity for them to build for next season. Maye has been doing it since he took over as the starter, and now we'd like to see it out of other rookies.
Ja'Lynn Polk, we're begging for something on Sunday. He didn't catch his only target in Week 13. He's seen just five passes go his way over the last five weeks, and has caught only two of them for nine yards. One of those was a touchdown against the Bears, but that feels like eons ago. Polk has just 12 receptions for his rookie season.
The Patriots are a bit thin at receiver at the moment, with KJ Osborn no longer on the team and Javon Baker dealing with a concussion (not that either of those players have played much). Polk, DeMario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, and Kayshon Boutte are the only healthy receivers on the roster, and Mayo said Friday that he doesn't think anyone will be elevated from the practice squad for Sunday.
The head coach said tight ends will be heavily involved though, which could lead to some looks for rookie Jaheim Bell. He has just one catch on two targets this season, but he could be a guy the Patriots want to build up over the last month.
It'd be nice to see Caedan Wallace return to the offensive line, but he just got back to practice this week and may not be ready to return from the ankle injury that has shelved him since Week 4. And it's still unclear if Cole Strange is ready to go, or where he'll play when he does return.
Though the Patriots may not win any of their remaining four games, the hope is they'll make life tough on their opponents while young players on their roster string together some good football.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Cardinals game on WBZ-TV -- the television home of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay (which you can also stream on CBS News Boston), kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m., and after the game switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!
