NFL Week 14 Game Recap: New England Patriots 27, Arizona Cardinals 13

December 12, 2022; Glendale, Ariz; USA; Cardinals quarterback Colt McCoy (12) throws a pass against the Patriots during the first half of a game at State Farm Stadium. Nfl Cardinals Patriots 1213 New England Patriots At Arizona Cardinals

The New England Patriots blanketed the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night, winning 27-13.

With the victory, the Patriots stay in the thick of the playoff hunt at 7-6 while the Cardinals will likely look ahead to next season at 4-9.

Offensive spotlight: The biggest story of this game happened on just the third play, as Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray suffered a non-contact knee injury after scrambling for three yards. From early reports, it doesn’t look good.

Colt McCoy relieved Murray and finished with a 64.7 grade on first review in the loss. 

Defensive spotlight: Jahlani Tavai has been on the best stretch of his career so far. The Patriots linebacker currently has an 84.2 grade on first review, which would be his third 80-plus grade in five weeks. Those are also the only games of his four-year career where he’s graded above 80. 

Tavai forced two incompletions on the night and also came up with a coverage stop and five tackles.

Rookie spotlight: With Rhamondre Stevenson going down with an ankle injury, Pierre Strong Jr. stepped up as the lead running back for the Patriots. The fourth-rounder from South Dakota State rushed for 70 yards on just five carries, averaging a staggering 14 yards per attempt. Strong also scored the first touchdown of his career in the victory.

Offensive line spotlight: The Patriots offensive line dominated the Cardinals, finishing with an 87.7 pass-blocking grade on first review. If that holds, it’d be their highest single-game mark of the season.

The interior of that line especially thrived. Guards Cole Strange and Michael Onwenu in addition to center David Andrews didn’t allow a pressure across 37 pass-blocking snaps.


Box Score

Passing
New England Patriots
Player Fantasy Comp/Att Yds YPA TD Int
Mac Jones 8.5 24 / 35 235 6.7 0 1
Arizona Cardinals
Player Fantasy Comp/Att Yds YPA TD Int
Colt McCoy 11.24 27 / 40 246 6.2 0 1
Kyler Murray 0.66 1 / 1 9 9 0 0
Rushing
New England Patriots
Player Fantasy Car Yds YPC TD Long
Pierre Strong Jr. 17 5 70 14 1 44
Kevin Harris 8.6 8 26 3.2 1 14
Mac Jones 8.5 3 1 0.3 0 2
Rhamondre Stevenson 3 3 8 2.7 0 4
Arizona Cardinals
Player Fantasy Car Yds YPC TD Long
James Conner 23.4 15 85 5.7 1 23
Colt McCoy 11.24 5 24 4.8 0 9
Kyler Murray 0.66 1 3 3 0 3
Keaontay Ingram 0.1 1 1 1 0 1
Receiving
New England Patriots
Player Fantasy Tgt Rec Yds YPT TD
Pierre Strong Jr. 17 2 2 20 10 0
Hunter Henry 10 3 3 70 23.3 0
Kendrick Bourne 9.7 5 5 47 9.4 0
Nelson Agholor 8.2 10 5 32 3.2 0
Tyquan Thornton 6.8 5 4 28 5.6 0
DeVante Parker 4.4 2 2 24 12 0
Rhamondre Stevenson 3 3 2 2 0.7 0
Marcus Jones 2.2 1 1 12 12 0
Jonnu Smith 0 2 0 0 0 0
Arizona Cardinals
Player Fantasy Tgt Rec Yds YPT TD
James Conner 23.4 7 6 29 4.1 0
DeAndre Hopkins 13.9 11 7 79 7.2 0
Robbie Anderson 9 4 4 50 12.5 0
Marquise Brown 7.4 8 4 34 4.2 0
Trey McBride 5.8 6 3 28 4.7 0
Corey Clement 3.1 1 1 21 21 0
Stephen Anderson 2.7 2 2 7 3.5 0
A.J. Green 1.7 2 1 7 3.5 0

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