New England Enemy Profile: Arizona Cardinals

In what felt like a must-win game for New England, they lost to the 2-7 Houston Texans. Houston moved the ball with ease on the Patriots defense. Deshaun Watson sat back in the pocket the whole game. Offensively, New England struggled to run the ball and convert on 1st and 2nd down. Going into the game 4-5, there was not much margin for the error if the Patriots wanted to make a playoff push.

Know Your Enemy

Let’s get to know the Arizona Cardinals and what to expect come Sunday afternoon:

Arizona has one of the best offenses in the NFL. Quarterback, Kyler Murray creates plays downfield with not only his arm but with his legs too. Kyler is currently nursing a shoulder injury but is expected to play this Sunday. DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk, and Larry Fitzgerald get the bulk of catches from Murray in the passing game. Running back, Kenyan Drake adds another element to this offense that makes it difficult to stop. Drake is an elite runner when he gets in a rhythm. This rhythm sets the tone for a lot of the Cardinals’ wins this year.

Defensively, Arizona struggled last week in their loss to the Seattle Seahawks. New England’s offense is nowhere near the level of Seattle’s but stopping the run has been a problem for Arizona. The backend of Arizona’s defense is where they create problems. Patrick Peterson and Dre Kirkpatrick complement each other well and make it difficult for opposing offenses to plan for. Safety, Budda Baker has excellent speed downhill to stop the run. Baker has 61 solo tackles and 2 interceptions so far in the 2020 season. The Patriots are up against a great opponent this week.

–Robert Marcello is a Staff Writer for Full Press Coverage and covers the New England Patriots. Follow him on Twitter @RobertMarcello5