Patriots-Cardinals Week 14 news, notes, and fun facts
FOXBORO -- Don't go too wild this weekend. Patriots fans have a late night ahead on Monday.
That's when the Patriots will make their final prime time appearance of the regular season, when they take on the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. The Pats had another evening showcase scheduled for Week 15, but the NFL flexed them into the late afternoon window instead. Probably a wise move since New England possesses one of the league's worst offenses and the Raiders are one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL.
As for Monday night's showdown in the desert, it's as close to a must-win for the 6-6 Patriots as they come. A loss won't totally sink their playoff hopes (the Jets could easily Jets the rest of the way and let the Patriots sneak into the postseason), but New England needs all the wins it can get at this late juncture of the season.
Starting their final five weeks with a victory over a lesser opponent would be a good start. Here's all you need to know about Week 14's Patriots-Cardinals showdown on Monday Night Football.
Week 14 Notes
- The Patriots own an 8-7 edge in their previous matchups against the Cardinals.
- The Cardinals started out as the St. Louis Cardinals (not to be confused with the baseball team) and won six of their first seven meetings with the Patriots. The Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988.
- The Patriots have won seven of the last eight meetings between the two franchises. New England has taken the last two matchups.
- The Patriots' last visit to Arizona was Week 1 in 2016, when Jimmy Garoppolo helped lead New England to a 23-21 victory.
- Bill Belichick is 5-1 overall against the Cardinals, and 4-1 against them with the Patriots.
- The Patriots have the 10th-ranked rushing offense and the 11th-ranked passing offense in the NFL. Overall, the New England offense ranks 10th in the league. The Cardinals have the 12th-ranked rushing offense and the 9th-ranked passing offense, good for 10th overall.
- The New England defense ranks third overall in the NFL (7th vs. the pass, 4th vs. the run), while the Arizona defense ranks 11th overall (4th vs. the run, 13th vs. the pass).
- The Patriots offense has not turned the ball over in the last three games. The last time the team went four straight without a turnover was in 2018. New England's longest streak without a turnover is seven games, which the Patriots set in 2010.
- The Cardinals have given up 24 passing touchdowns this season, which is tied for the most in the NFL.
- After their Week 7 loss to the Bears, the Patriots are now 28-28 all-time on Monday Night Football.
Player Notes
- Mac Jones has thrown 156 consecutive passes without an interception, which is the longest active streak in the NFL. The quarterback's last INT came in New England's win over the New York Jets on Oct. 30.
- Josh Uche is up to seven sacks on the season following his two-sack effort in last Thursday's loss to the Bills. If he logs another two-sack game on Monday night, he'll be the first Patriots player with back-to-back two-sack games since Trey Flowers did it in 2016.
- Rhamondre Stevenson enters Week 14 ranked third among NFL running backs with 56 receptions, and fourth with 383 receiving yards.
- Matthew Judon has not sacked a quarterback in New England's last two games. He still has 13 sacks on the season, but has lost his NFL lead with Nick Bosa now on top with 14.5 sacks on the year.
- Rookie free agent Brenden Schooler leads New England with 12 special teams tackles. He's five tackles away from setting a new Patriots rookie record, which was set by Willie Andrews in 2016.
- In his only game against the Patriots, Cardinals quarterback Kyle Murray completed 23 of his 34 passes for 170 yards. He was picked off by Adrian Phillips in the third quarter, which set up a touchdown for the Patriots, who won the game 20-17.
- Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins has no touchdown receptions in seven career games against the Patriots, with 34 receptions for 358 yards. He is just 1-6 against New England in his career. He threw the only touchdown pass of his career in his lone win over the Patriots -- a 28-22 victory with the Texans in 2019.
Connections
- Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was a sixth-round pick by the Patriots in 2003. The quarterback spent his rookie season on IR with an arm injury, but still received a Super Bowl ring from the team.
- Kicker Tristan Vizcaino is currently in his second stint of the season on the New England practice squad. Between those stints, he kicked for the Cardinals in Week 10, connecting on his two field goal attempts and all three extra points in an Arizona win over the L.A. Rams.
WBZ-TV is the place to be for Monday night's Patriots-Cardinals clash in Arizona! Coverage begins at 7 p.m. with Patriots GameDay, kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m., and we'll wrap it all up with Patriots 5th Quarter after the game!
