Josh Uche, resilient offense save Patriots’ season with win over Cardinals
Uche #Uche
It sure didn’t look good there for a while, especially after a first quarter that saw the Patriots lose DeVante Parker, Jack Jones and Rhamondre Stevenson to injuries.
Somehow, New England went into the half losing 13-10 despite Kyler Murray exiting on the game’s third play with a leg injury. Mac Jones and the offense looked broken in the first half, and the defense couldn’t seem to dominate backup Colt McCoy, who came on for an injured Kyler Murray on the game’s first series, the way they’ve gotten to other backups and bad quarterbacks.
But the Patriots, to their credit, refused to lay down and turned things around in the second half thanks to a resilient offense and two huge defensive takeaways — one of which went for a critical touchdown — en route to a 27-13 win that put the team back in the seventh and final AFC playoff spot.
Here are the big takeaways.
Josh Uche’s career-best game comes at the perfect time.
He’s here. Well, he’s been here, but this was especially big.
Uche was simply unblockable against the Cardinals, posting his second hat trick of the season to lead a six-sack night for New England. He now has 10 quarterback takedowns on the season, behind only Judon’s 14.5 (now tied for the league lead with Nick Bosa).
No play was bigger than his hit on McCoy that turned what could’ve been a long pass to DeAndre Hopkins into a wobbling interception for Marcus Jones.
When Judon went quiet at the end of last season, no one else picked up the slack. With Uche going nuclear over the last six games, the Patriots don’t have that problem this time around.
Also, let’s give a shout-out to Kyle Dugger for taking advantage of Hopkins being loose with the football and forcing the fumble that Raekwon McMillan scooped up and took back for a game-changing touchdown. One more: Jahlani Tavai making one of the biggest plays of the game breaking up a fourth-down pass intended for Trey McBride in the flat. I take back all the things I said about him early in the season; he’s been legitimately impactful in the run game and in coverage.
Rookie running backs thrive in trial-by-fire.
When Rhamondre Stevenson left with an ankle injury in the first quarter, there was nowhere left for New England to hide. Either the Patriots’ rookie running backs did their jobs, or their team was probably going to lose this game.
Did they step up, or what?
Both Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong notched their first NFL rushing touchdowns, helping the Patriots break through in the red zone twice in the process.
Harris went barreling through the Cardinals defense after Stevenson went down, running through a facemask penalty and then immediately blasting into the end zone for a 14-yard score on the next play.
Later, Strong got in the game and made some clutch plays in his first extended backfield action this season, taking a screen pass for 16 yards and showing off his big-time speed on a 44-yard gallop in the third quarter. He later punched in a short-yardage touchdown in the red zone with a nice cutback and strong run up the middle to find pay-dirt.
Both also seemed to hold their own in pass protection after some early mishaps, including one on Jones’ interception.
Without these two unexpected contributions, the Patriots don’t win this game. Between them and Marcus Jones, who balled out in coverage once more and nabbed his first career interception, give this rookie class its flowers.
(For real…Jones might well be one of the Patriots’ best players now.)
Mac Jones rises about frustration to steady ship.
It’s hard to blame Jones for feeling the way all of us feel about Matt Patricia. After appearing to blow up on the sideline (at no one, in particular, he said) about the offensive game plan, the young quarterback visibly showed his appeared to dog Patricia on multiple occasions, dropping a very noticeable f-bomb in the play-caller’s direction and seeming to dismissively wave him off at one point.
Aside from those issues, Jones once again had to run for his life behind an offensive line that simply would not allow him to hold the football long enough to throw downfield much. His interception came on a designed deep shot where Hunter Henry found himself 1-on-1 with an edge rusher and gave up the pressure on Jones, whose throw floated into the air after his arm was hit — not unlike his previous pick against the New York Jets.
But Jones, aided by a quick passing attack that counteracted an aggressive Cardinals defense, found ways to keep things moving. He got the ball out of his hands quickly into the flat when needed but also drilled big throws in to Hunter Henry down the seam twice for gains of 30 and 49 yards. He showed off some arm strength he didn’t have last season on throws outside the numbers and on the move, as well.
The box score won’t wow anyone, and it wasn’t a perfect game by any means. But it was the kind of gritty performance the Patriots needed. There’s no saving this offense at this point, but Jones is doing his best to keep it — and their playoff hopes — alive.