Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12 #7

4^th quarter

"Weird one in the desert" - Joe Buck

Doh!  Wow, that coverage was not good.

NE on the 3, looking for a TD.  And they get it.  Flag?  Probably against the Cards....  yeah, of course it is - an offside call.

Patriots 27-13.  This is looking more & more like a blowout.  

What's the rationale for running it out?  Doesn't seem to pay off very often.  Starting on the 24.

No idea what happened there.  Look for the pass, dude.

Conner barely makes it back to scrimmage.  Pats tasting blood.  3rd & 10.

Sack.  Definitely blood in the water.  🩸

🙄😡👹👿🏈

Yes, it's code for something.

Defense can't win this for the Cards.

Holy hell, that should not have happened.  The ball flew more like a bat.  Penalty for ineligible man down field, at least.

3rd & 7.  Chance for Cardinals to get a stop.  They did!  Fine for NE, really - they can afford to just kick it away & run down the clock.  Cardinals need to get it together on offense.

Touchback, good.  Starting on the 1 would not have been desirable.

Where am I going to put this post?  Probably Mastodon.

Another penalty for the Cards after a long pass.  Sloppy, sloppy.  Too many shifty players.

1st & 15.  Terrible.  Gains 5, 2nd & 10 or so.  C'mon, Cards - have some pride.  Ok, good, McCoy - show some gumption.  Didn't even slide on the run.

Clap snap.  Hollywood grabbed - pass interference.  Auto 1st down.  Strangely designed play, though.

Not a good pass.  Was McBride out of position?  2nd & 10.  Hopkins catches and spins for a couple more.  3rd & 3.  Then a terrible pass...  what the hell?  Gotta go for it this time, right?  4th & 3....   Colt McCoy looking tough.  Plus offside on D, declined, so nice 1st down (though ugly AF).

Whistles for....  what?  Concussion?  Removing a player.  Oh, ow - yeah, friendly fire & such.

Oh, nuts.  That fake did not fool him at all.  Judon - good name, very martial arts.  

2nd & 23, DeAndre Hopkins makes a bunch, but now 3rd & 13 or so.  Let's see it.  Nice pass, but not far enough.  Oh, also incomplete - receiver stepped out & came back in.  Another offensive penalty.  4th & insanely far.  Going for it, of course.  As expected, the Pats came hard & managed another sack.   Judon flushed him & Uche finished it.  Turnover on downs.  5 sacks!  That's crazy.

Defense is still playing well.  Force a punt, which goes into the end zone.

Hopkins is still hustling.  Should be.  

Catch by AJ Green, but pass interference call on the O.  Bad, bad, bad.  Another sack by Ouchie.  4th & 13.  Don't bother going for it, really.  McCoy avoids the sack, but they still turn it over on downs again.

Jeez, the Patriots are going to score again.  Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Should I post & start a new one?  No, c'mon - be serious.

Ah, at least they're just going to run out the clock.  

Who should I root for in the playoffs?  I should just avoid football.

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12 6/

 Nah, not going to watch the halftime show.

2nd half

. Ooh, we're back.

C'mon, tackle. There you go.  JJ Watt, no big surprise there.

Tricky screen pays dividends.  Too bad.

Damn, one good defensive play, followed by a huge run.  Sheesh.

Well, held them to a field goal attempt, anyway.  Or maybe they'll pull out another trick play.  Nope, looks legit.  Tie game at 13.

McCoy -> Hopkins is working

Conner's looking great

Hoo boy - trying to throw a pick.  Lucky.

Penalty.  Nice effort from Conner to make something of nothing.  Going for it on 4th & 5.  Not wise.

Brown drops it?  What happened?  Looked good from the side.  Oh, he had to lay out to get to it.  Still should've caught it - had it between his arms.

Buda Baker good tackle

Good non-pass interference

Long punt & no real return.  Long way to go in the other direction.  Guess that's what happens when you always go for it on 4th down.

Cards start from their 6.  Conner runs well on 1st down.  Incomplete pass on 2nd down.  Illegal contact on defense, so 1st down.  

Ack ack ack.  Ack phhhttttbbb.  Hopkins catch & then fumble, Patriots recover & run it in for a score.  Shit.  Looks like it just slipped out of Hopkins' hands.  Yeah, admits his fault - good.

Patriots 20-13

Kick off, run out to the 24.  At least not starting at their 6, I guess.

16 yard gain by Brown with the pass & run.  

Another false start.  C'mon....   not used to McCoy's snap count?   1st & 15.  Nice catch, got clobbered after the catch.  McBride's a tough mofo.  Sheesh.

Gain of 6, 3rd & 1.  Colt McCoy's doing ok, with a lot of help from Conner.  Now he's limping, though - Conner.  Crap.

Sack.  Probably a hold, too.  Yeah, but declined.  2nd & whatever - 13?  Oochie got him again. Maybe he should be Ouchie.  Yes, I know it's Uche.

McCoy hit while throwing, interception.  Uche delivered the hit - ouchie.  Guess I shouldn't've made fun of his name.

New England starts with great field position again.  Fumble, run back - run run run run run1  Yes!  Touchdown Cardinals!  Hmmm....  not sure it was really a catch.  Yeah, they're saying it was an incomplete pass.  Crap.  Damn it.  The defense deserved that score.

3rd quarter's almost done.  Need a stop. Good pressure on the QB, but he manages to get a ball away & it was caught.  Cardinals are not catching many breaks.

Ok, post time.

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12 p5

 3 minutes till the half.  Let's see if the Cards D can hold them.  Hard hit on special teams.

Well, 3rd down already at the 2 minute warning in the 1st half.

Sack-o-rama!  Mass sackitude!  Sackreligious!  Ooh, I need to trademark that...

Dortch does well receiving the punt & running it back.

The lost time-out from the challenge is going to bite them, unfortunately.  Ack, stopped at 3rd & 1, losing a yard.  They could kick a field goal, most likely.  Think they have to, now that they've used their last time out.  Nope, not...  oh, no - tipped pass on 4th & 1 and a change of possession.  Tsk, tsk.  Too much touch again Dr. McCoy.

27 seconds left before the half.  1st down (I think - yeah); 3 time-outs left.  C'mon, Cards - another stop.

Ok, good - incomplete pass, though that stops the clock.

Crap, long completion.  Well within range for a field goal.  

Another play.... fumble!  Awww, Patriots come up with it.  4 seconds, field goal attempt, 51 yard attempt.  Damn, he made it.  Cardinals, 13-10.  Disappointing, but better than I would've guessed.

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12 paht fo

Fantastic field position.  Doesn't matter, though - the Cardinals can't punch it in.  This is closer field goal attempt, and Prater makes it this time.

Pats choose not to run it out.  Smart.

Jeez, the QB managed to avoid an unblocked rusher...  impressive avoidance of the sack.

Well, it's good that the defense is being aggressive, but they're not managing to stop them. Another 1st down.  Another injury.

Ooh, very obvious facemask.

Jeez, they cannot stop the run, not even in the red zone with the defense all compressed.

7-3 Patriots

Watching Maddow during the break.  A Senator wrote a text calling for "Marshall Law"?  Not sure why such stupidity shouldn't be disqualifying. 

Ok, Cards ball again. Another injury, this time Conner - really bad.  He's been basically the only light in the running game for the Cardinals.  He's walking, which is good.  

McCoy airs out a pass....  flag.  Yes, looks like pass interference.  And it is.  That was an oochie.

Hopkins runs smart after the catch.  1st down.

Ingraham doesn't make much - a yard or so.

Not sure what was up with that pass.  Brown should've been the target.

3rd down again.  Hopkins somehow manages to catch it, but he couldn't stay in bounds.  One-handed grab - so impressive, but nothing comes of it.  32-yard FG is good.

Low kick-off, received on the bounce (good hands), only makes it to the 21.

Excellent anticipation & tackle by Collins.  Loss of 2.  3rd & 13...  and still they make it.

The Cardinals defense is looking better against the run & the short pass.  Not so great against the longer pass.

Showing blitz?  Delay of game, play blown dead.  3rd & 14.  Ok, good - got a stop.  Flag, though...  illegal shift on offense, so declined.  Good stop, Cardinals!

Ok, Joe Buck trying his hand at sarcasm.... not bad.  Punt goes out of bounds.

Good field position again.

James Conner looking good running after the catch.  Glad he's ok. 

Wow, Anderson made a fabulous catch.  One-handed stab and catch.

Ack - too much touch on the pass from McCoy.  At least got back to scrimmage.

McCoy gets mangled a bit, but at least not sacked.

Red birds back in the red zone...  will they be able to get a TD?  Well, another 1st down, anyway.  Protection has been decent for McCoy.

Touchdown Conner!  Woohoo!  Cardinals on top, 12-7.  Extra point?  Yes, Cardinals 13-7.  

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12 part 3

Backed the Pats way up.  Try not to let them run it out too far, hey?

Not clear that was actually a catch.  The talking head dud said it was a catch, but he doesn't have hair, so what does he know, really?

Ok, yeah, it's a little dark in the house, and I look more than a little maniacal, but 'tis the season, right?

Ok, one more, since the stupid call was that the catch stands.  Idiots.

Man, he scrambles ok.  Schmuck.  Then sets up a 1^st down.  

In jury, out jury, bad, but ....

Interception!  Yaaaaaaaayyyy....  and there was much rejoicing.

Good field position.  Decent run up the middle.

Yeah, hard to overthrow Hopkins, honestly.  

Nice 1^st down, Hollywood Brown.  Then a run for 3.

Crunchy helmet clap tackle.  End 1^st  quarter.

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12 part 2

 Murray is apparently badly injured.  Very sad.

Patriots are moving the ball well enough.  Defense will need to step up big time.  Have them at 3^rd & 9 now...  and a false start.  Nice.  3^rd & 14.  Ooh, almost an interception!

Penalty on the kick.... not very smart.

Wow, what great adaptation! Nice run.  Good pass & catch to follow.

Conner running well, though not much gain on that play.

Dang, a sack.  He's not great at catching the snap.  That's not why he was sacked, of course, but still....

Hopkins good catch, but a flag.  Illegal shift...  very shifty.  Never gets set.  I'd be annoyed if I were Hopkins.

Well, decent gain, but no way to make a 1^st down. 

Oops, I forgot to put on my Cardinals beanie.  That's probably why Murray got injured.  Ok, it's on now.

Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12

 Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots 2022-12-12

I rarely get to watch the Cardinals play, since they aren't on TV often, even with Utah being right next door to Arizona.

Cards receive, run it out on the kick-off, and make it a yard past where they would've if they let it go.

Crunch tackle noise

Ok, a positive running play - very nice.

Oy - Murray down after running it on the next play. Left ankle, right leg, what?  Crap.

The Patriots are not entirely out of the playoff picture, I guess, and the Cardinals are, so it'd be nice if the Cards could just screw them.  Not likely without Kyler Murray.  This sucks.

Colt McCoy back in the QB spot. Super short pass, no gain.

Good gain on a passing play.  Clement slips out of a tackle & makes some yards.

Fumble...  McCoy is not much of a hand-off guy.  Think I saw him go the wrong way on a hand-off in a previous game.

Well, they got enough yards to make a field goal attempt.  It's pretty long.  Nope, missed.

Let's see...  I think I'll publish a bunch of posts instead of one big one.