The New England Patriots look to keep their playoff hopes alive when they travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals.
New England Patriots (6-6) at Arizona Cardinals (4-8)
Game Details:
- Location: State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ
- Time: Monday, December 12th at 8:15 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN
Betting Stats:
- MONEYLINE: NE ML (-125), ARI ML (+1-5)
- SPREAD: NE -1.5
- OVER/UNDER: 43.5
Preview:
In addition to the New England potential playoff push, the next biggest storyline in this game is that Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury is firmly on the hot seat after going 5-12 in his last 17 regular-season games and losing in the first round of the playoffs. It also doesn’t help that the Cardinals are an NFC-worst 1-6 record at home and have trailed at the half in nine of their 12 games this season.
In order for Arizona to show some life at home, it’s going to have to start with Kyler Murray. Arizona is dead last in the NFL with 9.1 yards per completion as Murray has simply not been as aggressive as in years past. Now he’s only played one game with both DeAndre Hopkins and Marquise Brown healthy, so maybe that will help.
Still, in that game, a loss to the Chargers, Murray was just 18-of-29 for 191 yards. That’s not what Arizona fans were expecting when they paired Murray up with these two dynamic receivers.
But he’ll have a chance on Monday night. After watching Stefon Diggs just toy with the Patriots’ cornerbacks last Thursday, Hopkins should be licking his lips. The veteran has 574 yards receiving and three touchdowns in just six games this season and could feast if Murray decides to push the ball down the field.
On the other side, the Patriots have also been fairly conservative on offense, which shouldn’t be a shock since they made the weird decision to name Matt Patricia, their former defensive coordinator as their offensive coordinator this season after Josh McDaniels was hired over the by the Las Vegas Raiders.
It hasn’t worked out great for New England, who is 20th in scoring offense and 18th in yards gained per play. In fact, Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was vocal in his criticism of the way Patricia calls plays, saying, “It’s a very conservative pass game – lot of screens, all kind of screens. It’s how a defensive guy would call offensive plays, right?” Joseph said. “‘Let’s not turn the ball over, let’s get four yards a play, and let’s try to burn clock.’ That’s what they’re doing and that’s what he’s going to do on Monday night.”
Mac Jones has been inconsistent for New England, completing 68% of his passes but for just 19,63 yards with an identical seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. He had a tremendous game against Minnesota but followed it up with a bit of a dud last week against Buffalo.
The Patriots will likely continue to rely on running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who has been a breakout star this year. The second-year pro has taken on more of the rushing lead over Damien Harris and has 734 rushing yards on 4.6 yards per carry while also adding 383 yards through the air.
Considering the Cardinals are the 2nd-worst defense in the NFL in terms of opponents’ scoring rate and rank 24th in yards per carry allowed, Stevenson could carry New England to a victory on Monday.
Pick:
Arizona 27 New England 23
Player Props:
First Half Under 21.5 points
OK, I lied because this isn’t a player prop, but it’s a game prop that I really like. We mentioned that Arizona has been a slow starting team, but New England isn’t much better, scoring just 2.7 points in the first quarter, which is 28th in the NFL. While this game might turn into a higher-scoring affair, I’m gonna take the under in the first half
SPORTSBOOK: Bet at DraftKings (-115)
Devante Parker OVER 39.5 receiving yards
Jakobi Meyers has been ruled out of this game for New England with a concussion, so Parker will be the clear WR1 against a defense that is 25th in pass DVOA. We mentioned that the Patriots run a pretty conservative game plan, but 40 yards could be just one catch for Parker, who has operated as the team’s most consistent deep threat this season.
SPORTSBOOK: Bet at CAESARS (-117)
DeAndre Hopkins anytime touchdown
This is just a fun one, so don’t put tons of money on it, but we mentioned that Diggs torched this Patriots secondary whenever the Bills needed a big play. I expect Hopkins to be able to do the same.
SPORTSBOOK: Bet at FANDUEL (+130)
