Category: Cardinals vs. Patriots

Patriots RB Antonio Gibson fined for block that gave Cardinals LB Mack Wilson concussion

A look back at the fines that the league gave players in the Cardinals’ win over the Patriots in Week 15.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Zach Pascal has been fined $11,255 for taunting, but that’s not the biggest fine ramifications to come out of the victory last Sunday over the New England Patriots.

The headline is that New England running back Antonio Gibson was fined $14,805 for the use of his helmet on the play in which Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. suffered a concussion that will keep him from playing this week. Adding insult to injury is that there was no penalty flagged on the play.

The concussion is apparently bad enough that Wilson wasn’t seen on the practice field at all this week.

It was on the fourth play of the game that quarterback Drake Maye connected with tight end Austin Hooper for a five-yard gain. Wilson was blitzing and Gibson lowered his head, hitting Wilson in the facemask with his helmet. Analyst Ross Tucker called it “an excellent blitz pickup” and seeing Wilson on the ground, added about the hit, “Hard to see anything there.”

In fairness, the contact with the facemask came from the side instead of straight-up and happened quickly.

Pascal’s fine came on a kickoff return by Gibson in the fourth quarter. There was also no penalty was called on that play.

After Gibson was tackled, Pascal and Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins pushed each other, but Pascal then got in the face of Hawkins with his helmet.

One other Patriots player was fined on a play where there was a penalty. Defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. sacked quarterback Kyler Murray on the first possession of the third quarter, but was flagged for a horse-collar penalty, negating the sack and costing his team 15 yards.

Instead of third-and-20 at their own 45-yard line, the Cardinals had a first down at the New England 26  Five snaps later, the Cardinals went ahead 16-3 on a 40-yard field goal by Chad Ryland.

Wise was fined $16,883.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Breaking down the Cardinals’ win over Patriots, NFC West race

Jess Root and Seth Cox break down the Cardinals’ win over the Patriots in the latest podcast show.

The Arizona Cardinals beat the New England Patriots 30-17 on Sunday, so cohost Seth Cox and I discussed the win in the latest edition of the podcast.

We react to the win in general, go over the offensive play and the performance of quarterback Kyler Murray, look at how they played defense and more.

We also go over the injuries the Cardinals have suffered and the Cardinals’ place in the NFC West race. We also discussed the report of contract negotiations with safety Budda Baker, and what it would mean. The actual extension broke about 45 minutes after we recorded, so yeah.

Enjoy the show!

Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!

Times and topics:

(1:00) Reactions to the win over the Pats

(8:11) The Cardinals’ play on offense

(26:38) The Cardinals’ play on defense

(39:26) Odds and ends — injuries, the NFC West race, Budda Baker

Late-game third-down performance sealed Cardinals’ win over Patriots

A look back at how the Cardinals ended up being 10-for-15 on third down against the Patriots.

Sunday’s 30-17 win over the New England Patriots was shaping up as another inconsistent day for the Arizona Cardinals offense, fueled in part by spotty success on third down.

Leading 16-3, the Cardinals gained possession with one play remaining in the third quarter after an interception by cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting. Prior to that, the Cardinals had converted four of their nine third downs.

On the five misses, all from six yards to go or less, quarterback Kyler Murray completed 1-of-4 passes for one yard (on third-and-4) with the three incompletions targeted for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. The other miss was a 2-yard run by Murray on third-and-4. Two of the others had six yards to go and one had five.

Something changed when the fourth quarter began and the result was two touchdown drives in which all five third-down plays were successful.

Let’s review:

*9 plays, 55 yards, 4:52 off clock

*Third-and-4 from Patriots 49: 29-yard pass to tight end Trey McBride

*Third-and-3 from the 13: 12-yard pass to running back James Conner

*Third-and-goal from the 1: Conner touchdown run after a Conner run and shovel pass to McBride each went for no yards. Cardinals lead 23-3.

*9 plays, 70 yards, 4:47 off clock after New England scored to cut the lead to 23-10

*Third-and-4 from Cardinals 36: 9-yard pass to McBride

*Third-and-4 from Patriots 49: 26-yard pass to McBride

Three plays later, Conner scored again from the 1-yard line and the Cardinals led 30-10

During those two possessions, Murray was 4-for-4 for 76 yards on third down with McBride totaling 64 yards on three of the receptions. Call it coincidence, but Harrison was not targeted on any of the third-down plays.

Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said Tuesday, “We got some different looks. One of them was, just off the top of my head, one was versus big zone. We hit the shallow route to Trey. We hit one versus man to him. We had an off-schedule (play), hit James in the flat, broke a tackle. So many different things go into converting in those situations.

“Whether it’s a guy making a guy miss in space or a great block up front to extend the play to let Kyler get out of the pocket or winning our one-on-one matchups out on the perimeter. It’s a number of things. It took everybody on the field to execute those late in the game, which was critical to the victory.”

When asked how much of the success was Murray throwing the ball where it should go while noting it’s not easy as it might look making quick decisions to find the right place to go with the ball, Petzing said, “Absolutely. Especially in those situations where they know you’re throwing the ball. You’re usually under a little bit more pressure than you are in other areas.

“I think that’s probably the most important part of the passing game is making sure the ball’s going to the right people at the right times. And accurately, under duress in tight windows. I thought late in the game, he did that at a really high level.”

For the game, McBride caught nine of his 10 targets for 87 yards and afterward Murray said, “I continue to say I think he’s the best. He’s got all the intangibles, all the traits, the athletic ability, loves the game, plays hard as hell. There’s nothing that he doesn’t or can’t do. He’s a mismatch.

“As much man as they were playing, I feel like that’s a favorable matchup for us. Zone, he finds spots in the zone. He’s a great player. Obviously, getting more confident every week.”

Murray added to that two days after the game when he talked about McBride on TikTok and said simply, “There’s 3 things in life that’s certain. Death. Taxes. And 85 gonna always be open.”

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Trey McBride set a record in win over Patriots

McBride still has not had a touchdown catch in 2024.

Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride has had a fantastic season in 2024. With three games still remaining, he has set career highs in receptions and receiving yards. His 89 receptions broke the record he set last year for the team’s single-season total for catches by a tight end. With 938 receiving yards, he is only the second tight end in team history to pass 900 yards in a season.

However, he set a record he would rather not have on Sunday in the team’s 30-17 win over the New England Patriots.

He set the record for the most receptions in a season without a receiving touchdown. With his 87th reception of the year, he broke the dubious record set by Diontae Johnson in 2022, who had 86 catches for 882 without a score.

McBride has rushed for a touchdown and recovered a fumble in the end zone for another score, but he has not had a touchdown catch, despite many opportunities.

Is it something to worry about? Probably not. It has been simply unfortunate, almost comical. In fact, his 87th catch was a shovel pass to him inside the five that should have been a touchdown, but the Patriots tackled him at the one. James Conner scored on the next play on a one-yard run.

Quarterback Kyler Murray has taken notice. He even posted a TikTok promising that McBride “will touch the end zone soon.”

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Cardinals K Chad Ryland doesn’t miss a beat with new holder

Ryland made all of his kicks on Sunday with a new holder against his former team.

It was a little over a year ago on Nov. 26 that Arizona Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland missed a 35-yard field goal with three seconds remaining that would have sent his team to overtime in a 10-7 loss to the Giants.

That team, of course, was the New England Patriots. Ryland had a chance to play against his former team Sunday and while he hit all three of his field-goal attempts and that many extra points in the team’s 30-17 victory, he insists there was no gloating because he did it against his former team.

“For me, it was just bounce back from missing a kick the last three weeks,” Ryland said. “And us putting together a solid performance. I say that honestly and wholeheartedly. It was another game on the schedule. I don’t have a personal vendetta against anybody. There are a lot of guys on that sideline that I have a lot of love for. And that I’m thankful for my time there. I learned a ton, but I’m happy to be where my feet are now.

“I don’t think anything from last season rolls over to this season at all. Quite frankly, I’m surrounded by great guys, a great coaching staff. I have confidence in myself, my swing and the guys around me. It’s a lot of fun. I’m having a lot of fun right now.”

He’s had three game-winning kicks for the Cardinals after a season in which he was 16-for-25 (64.0 percent) on field goals, making 4-of-4 from 20-29 yards, 5-of-7 from 30-39, 5-of-10 from 40-49 and 2-of-4 from 50-plus, to go with missing one extra point in 25 attempts.

This year, after getting the job when Matt Prater suffered a knee injury, Ryland has kicked in 10 games and made 84.6 percent of his field-goal tries (22-for-26, 84.6 percent) with 5-for-5 from 20-29 yards, 10-for-10 from 30-39; 5-for-9 from 40-49, 2-for-2 from 50+ and all of his 15 extra-point attempts. Three of the misses in the 40s came in the previous three games.

This week could have complicated by having a new holder after punter Blake Gillikin suffered a foot injury last week against the Seahawks and was placed on injured reserve Saturday. Holding Sunday was new punter Michael Palardy, who was elevated from the practice squad.

Ryland took the change in stride.

“Mike’s awesome,” he said. “Spent a normal amount of time, a normal amount of reps. I mean Mike’s a pro. He’s played in the league 10-plus years. He knows how to execute his job at a high level and he’s fun to work with. Awesome dude and (long snapper Aaron) Brewer’s been awesome the whole year.”

Asked about adjusting to a new holder and communicating what he likes, Ryland said, “It’s not simple, but it is as clear-cut as like, ‘OK dude, this is how I like the ball.’ OK, easy, that’s how we’ll put the ball down. And then we go and do it. And that’s what we did. We made all our kicks today. It’s a lot of fun when that happens.”

Head coach Jonathan Gannon gave credit to special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers and assistant special teams coach Sam Sewell.

He said, “It was a really good job by Jeff and Sam to get him caught up to speed and everything. We spent a little extra time on it, but it’s hard. He doesn’t know half of his teammates, but I thought Mike came in and did a good job for us.”

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Cardinals RT Jonah Williams kickstarts Cardinals win with unlikely touchdown

Williams had not scored a touchdown since he was in sixth grade.

It’s been a long time since Arizona Cardinals 27-year-old right tackle Jonah Williams scored a touchdown. It came when he was playing fullback in the sixth grade at Murphey Candler Park in Brookhaven, Ga., for the Georgia Force.

Three years later, he moved to California, but Williams has fond recollections of that score and was able to talk about it after recovering a fumble in the end zone Sunday for the first touchdown of the game in the Cardinals’ 30-17 win over the Patriots.

On second-and-3 from the New England eight-yard line with 1:31 to play in the first quarter and leading 3-0, quarterback Kyler Murray executed an inside handoff to wide receiver Greg Dortch, who was moving right to left.

Dortch turned the corner and was headed to the end zone when Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings knocked the ball out at the two-yard line. The ball bounded into the end zone after it hit Dortch’s leg when Williams raced after it and made the recovery inches inside the back of the end zone.

Williams was pulling on the play and was in front of Dortch when the fumble occurred. When he saw it loose, Williams was also able to beat defensive lineman Eric Johnson II to the ball.

“I was pulling around for a linebacker and sorta blocked him and saw out of the corner of my eye the ball come out and I just had a mad dash to try to get on it,” he said. “(It was) just a sort of see ball, get ball. I saw it on the ground, sprinted and fell on it.”

In his mind, he said, “It was definitely slow motion. It felt like I was running about six miles an hour, but I think I was going faster just trying to fall forward and try to get on the ball.”

Asked if he realized how close he was to the line at the back of the end zone, Williams said, “I was very worried about that. That’s why I wasn’t sure what happened until after. Did it go out? But I guess I didn’t.

“I didn’t really realize what happened until after, when Paris (Johnson Jr.) told me I scored a touchdown. How does that work? Pretty cool.”

Williams had some fun with the situation when a reporter mentioned it was all about his footwork.

He joked, “Thats what I tried to do. I planned it. I practiced that before. Such a random play to get so much praise for, but it’s cool.”

Where Williams really had a good time was talking about that day in sixth grade perhaps 16 years ago when he was “toting the rock.”

He elicited laughter when asked what he remembers about the play, and said, “I remember the hole happened up. It was 30-trap. Center climbed to the linebacker. I just hit it behind him. I almost got conked by a nose guard. It was really embarrassing. That was my last chance to run the ball. This one is a little more exciting. A little bigger.”

As for the center, he said, “I wish I could remember his name, but he had a great block for me.”

This all came on a day when Williams was added to the injury report Sunday morning as questionable because of an illness.

“I had a really tough night, but trainers got me right and I just had to get out there and play,” Williams said.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon said afterward the play was huge.

“That’s one of our mode to play,” he said. “How he impacts the double positive is chase the play, so that’ll forever be a teach-tape there, because if that goes out of bounds, obviously that’s their ball. We have to do a good job of protecting the ball, first of all, but I thought that was (an) excellent play by him. Just maxing out effort there. I think it was the first time he scored since sixth grade, so he was juiced.”

Running back James Conner said, “It’s just hustle. That’s the team that we want to be. One that hustles.”

Added tight end Trey McBride, “Coming into today, he had a little sickness, an illness and for him to make that play, hustle and get on that ball, it was exciting. I’m so happy for him.”

As for the ball, Williams said, “The equipment guys grabbed it for me. They’re gonna paint it up for my first (NFL) touchdown.”

And who knows, maybe the last.

Cardinals 30, Patriots 17: James Conner scored 2 TDs as 3-game skid snapped

Arizona evened their record to 7-7 and snapped a three-game losing streak in a 30-17 win over the Patriots in Week 15.

The Arizona Cardinals snapped their three-game losing streak on Sunday, taking advantage of a young, struggling New England Patriots team. James Conner rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, the defense did not allow a third-down conversion and the Cardinals picked up a 30-17 win at State Farm Stadium.

Trey McBride caught nine passes for 87 yards as the offense went 10-for-15 on third down and finished with 395 yards.

It was the Patriots’ fourth consecutive loss.

Here is how it went down.

LB Mack Wilson hurt, taken to locker room

The Pats won the toss and took the opening kickoff. Wilson blitzed and made contact with the running back who was blocking. Upon contact he went down like a player who had a concussion. Both teams cleared the sidelines to check on him (he played for the Patriots before this season), but he was able to come off the field under his own power and went straight to the locker room.

Pats miss FG

Joey Slye missed a 53-yard field goal wide left, leaving the Pats scoreless after going 36 yards on six plays to open the game. Drake Maye completed all four of his passes for 36 yards on the drive.

Cardinals 3, Pats 0

After the missed field goal, Kyler Murray threw a 23-yard pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. after a bad snap. They added a four-yard play to Michael Wilson and a two-yard play to Trey McBride, and that was enough for Chad Ryland to hit a 49-yard field goal to give the Cardinals the lead.

Baron Browning gets 1st sack of season

The Cardinals forced a three-and-out. Julian Okwara tackled Rhamondre Stevenson for a two-yard loss and then Browning sacked Maye for a nine-yard loss. It was his first sack since the Cardinals traded for him and his first of the season.

JONAH WILLIAMS TD! Cardinals 10, Patriots 0

Greg Dortch fumbled the ball on a run play before the end zone and Williams, the Cardinals’ starting right tackle, recovered it in the back of the end zone for the score. James Conner started the drive with a 53-yard run.

Darius Robinson gets 1st career sack!

On a third-down play, Robinson tackle Maye for a zero-yard sack, the first sack of his NFL career.

Cardinals 10, Pats 3

The Pats got on the board with a 50-yard field goal by Slye. After Robinson’s sack, Rhamondre Stevenson picked up first down on fourth down and Marcus Jones had an 18-yard catch.

Cardinals 13, Pats 3

Ryland made a 35-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the half. It came after cornerback Christian Gonzalez made a great play to break up what would have been a touchdown by Harrison. It was set up by Dortch’s 39-yard catch-and-run.

Cardinals 16, Patriots 3

They opened the second half with a 40-yard field goal after a 10-play, 49-yard drive. Gonzalez broke up another pass to Harrison in the end zone. Dorth had a 13-yard catch after Trey McBride was called for holding.

Goalline stuff!

Inside the five, on two consecutive plays with less than a yard to get the first down, the defense stopped Antonio Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson for a turnover on downs.

Murray picked off, but penalty negates it

Murray threw an interception but Jennings was called for roughing the passer to nullify it. But Murray had to come out and be evaluated for a concussion. He passed tests.

PICK!

Maye threw a pass to Kayshon Boutte, who did not haul it in, bobbling the ball and having is come off his hands and into the arms of Sean Murphy-Bunting at the 42. He returned it to the New England 45.

Cardinals 23, Patriots 3

James Conner scored a one-yard touchdown with 10:59 to go in the game to cash in on the turnover. McBride had a 29-yard catch and Conner got to the one-yard line with a 12-yard catch.

Cardinals 23, Patriots 10

Maye’s shovel pass to Demario Douglas was good for a three-yard touchdown and pulled the Pats within 13 points. It was his sixth consecutive game with a touchdown pass.

Cardinals 30, Patriots 10

Conner had his second one-yard touchdown run of the season after he had a 17-yard play to get over 100 yards for the game.

Cardinals 30, Patriots 17

Maye scrambled for a five-yard touchdown with 1:55 left in the game.

Backups in

The Cardinals put in Tune at quarterback and DeeJay Dallas at running back to finish the game.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Kyler Murray exits game vs. Patriots with apparent injury

Murray was evaluated for a concussion but later returned.

The Arizona Cardinals had to turn to Clayton Tune in the third quarter of their game against the New England Patriots. Kyler Murray exited the game with an apparent injury.

After the defense stopped the Patriots on fourth-and-goal for a turnover on downs, Murray threw an interception but the turnover was negated by a roughing the passer penalty on Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings.

Murray stayed on the ground and then trainers tended to him. He left the field and was shaking his left arm some.

He was evaluated for a concussion but passed tests to return to the game. He returned on the Cardinals’ next drive.

Tune was in the game for three plays, handing the ball off once and completing two passes to McBride for eight yards.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

James Conner can move up Cardinals’ all-time list vs. Patriots

Conner can move into fifth place in the Cardinals’ all-time in career rushing list with a decent game against the Patriots.

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner has 863 rushing yards this season. With four games left, he should be able to pass his career high in rushing that he set last season with 1,040 yards.

With 137 against the New England Patriots, he can reach 1,000 for the season.

He will also likely move up the Cardinals’ all-time rushing list.

He enters Week 15 No. 8 in career rushing yards with the Cardinals with 3,437.

With two yards, he will pass Terry Metcalf for seventh place. With 53, he will pass John David Crow for sixth place. With 70 against New England, he will pass Charley Trippi and move up to fifth on the all-time franchise list.

With a monster game of 172 yards, he would move all the way up to No. 4, passing Johnny Roland.

With 427 yards, he will move into third place and needs 1,213 to pass Stump Mitchell for second place all-time. Since he is signed through two more seasons, that seems very possible.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Cardinals inactives: Cardinals T Jonah Williams to play vs. Patriots despite illness

The Cardinals’ inactive list is short in Week 15.

It’s a short inactive list for the Arizona Cardinals in today’s against the Patriots because the team has only 51 players on the active roster after placing punter Blake Gillikin and running back Emari Demercado on injured reserve Saturday.

Most notable is that right tackle Jonah Williams, who was added to the injury report Sunday morning with an illness, is active. Kelvin Beachum is ready in the event Williams experiences any struggles during the game.

The four inactives are players that have been on the list the last few weeks: Tackle Christian Jones, tight end Travis Vokolek, wide receiver Xavier Weaver and defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga.

The Cardinals have all six of their edge rushers active: Zaven Collins, Baron Browning, Jesse Luketa, Julian Okwara, Victor Dimukeje and Xavier Thomas.

It’s not known why punter Michael Palardy, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, wasn’t signed to the active roster with Gillikin our for the remainder of the regular season.

The possibility is that it was procedural depending on when the decision was made to place Gillikin on reserve, so it’s expected that Palardy will be signed next week unless he has a poor performance Sunday. He is also the holder for Chad Ryland on placekicks.

For the Patriots, the five players inactive are wide receiver Javon Baker, linebacker Marte Mapu, quarterback Joe Milton III and guards Cole Strange and Tyrese Robinson.

Strange was activated from reserve/physically unable to perform earlier this week.

On a side note, the Cardinals also have only 16 players on the practice squad, including Palardy and internationally exempt tight end Bernhard Seikovits. Offensive lineman Keith Ismael was released when Palardy was signed during the week, while cornerback Divaad Wilson was signed off the practice squad by the Giants to their 53-man roster.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.