The saying, ‘A win is a win’ applies to this New England Patriots victory over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. I tweeted out after the game @therealgresh that this was one of, if not, the ugliest wins of the Bill Belichick era. Special Teams, a timely defensive goal line stand, and just enough offense with an opponent penalty thrown in at the right time, were the ingredients of an unlikely Patriots victory. Take it and run to the west coast. Masks on please.
QUARTERBACK: D
Cam Newton’s best play of the game was the 14-yard run, on 3rd and 13, late in the 4th quarter. Defenders know to get their hands up and deflect passes at the line of scrimmage, and poor passing mechanics led to his other interception. Rewatch the end of the game and see Cam’s demeanor and how offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was talking to Cam to get him right mentally even after a win.
RUNNING BACKS: B
The backs weren’t the issue on Sunday. There was inconsistent blocking all day long from this Patriots offensive line. Using James White in the running game, especially in goal line situations, will help diversify the offense and personnel tendencies down the road. This stopped me cold after the game. The number of passes that were targeted to the running backs on Sunday. One. Shocking.
WIDE RECEIVERS: B-
A decent grade for what they were asked to do. Block. And they did that pretty well. N’Keal Harry may have been wrongly named as the offender on 2 penalties last week that he didn’t commit, but his hold was obvious this week. Jakobi Meyers had a false start the play before Cam Newton’s interception. Other than that, they gave great effort in wanting to block and contribute to the running game. I’ve given up looking for these guys to consistently separate from defenders and get open.
TIGHT ENDS: C
No targets to Ryan Izzo. Nothing stood out good or bad in terms of his blocking in the running game. He was ok.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C-
I really thought the Patriots offensive line, even without Isaiah Wynn, would move around this Cardinals defensive front and that did not happen consistently enough. I thought Jermaine Elumenore did NOT look good in the first quarter. Justin Herron took some snaps at left tackle as he looks like the swing tackle of the future. I found it interesting that Onwenu stayed exclusively at right tackle and didn’t flip to the left side. Some issues in pass protection need to be examined as there have been too many free rushers unabated to the quarterback the last 3 weeks.
DEFENSIVE LINE: A-
The rotating interior defensive lineman did a wonderful job of being disruptive in the run and pass games. Adam Butler only played 47 of 74 snaps and was in Kyler Murray’s personal space all afternoon. Wise, Lawrence Guy, and Chase Winovich did a nice job of forcing the runs inside, and giving Kyler Murray little room to wiggle out of the pocket. This defensive line bottled up the Lilliputian in the pocket and made it difficult on him from the jump.
LINEBACKERS: B+
Terez Hall and Ju’Whuan Bentley combined for 20 tackles. When you think of the problem Kyler Murray and Kenyon Drake are in open space, this is a nice effort by these 2 in particular. I like that I’m seeing Kyle Duggar in the box once in a while as you can see he plays with some linebacker tendencies. I think the Patriots have something here with Hall. Not a superstar, but a solid starter.
DEFENSIVE BACKS: B+
Overall, the way the defense kept the dangerous Arizona pass catchers not only, in front of them all day, but also out of the end zone, this was an awesome effort. I downgraded them because of the penalties. Got too handsy in the 2nd half. Stephon Gilmore won his battle against D’Andre Hopkins. And the longest pass play allowed in the game was 19 yards to Andy Isabella. Minus the penalties, this was a fantastic job by everyone.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A+
The return game was a factor and should’ve resulted in points for the Patriots as that penalty on the Gunnar Olszewski punt return was bunk. And welcome to the Patriots Donte Moncrief with his kickoff return for some good field position. Kicks, snaps, holds, all very good. They made THE contribution in winning this game.
3 THINGS TO WATCH FOR
1) Will Bill Belichick’s loyalty to Cam continue in the month of December? Or does he already know what he needs to know about Jarrett Stidham?
2) For the Los Angeles Chargers to play loose and fast. You could catch them making mistakes, or making a bunch of plays with a rookie QB.
3) Maybe, an offensive identity develops over the last 5 weeks of the season to carry into the offseason.
