Analysis: The Good (And Bad) of Cardinals' Offense vs Patriots

The Arizona Cardinals' struggling offense put up 30 points in a solid win against a weak New England Patriots at home, but questions remain.

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) stiff arms New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) at State Farm Stadium on Dec. 15, 2024. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals delivered a 30-17 victory at home against the New England Patriots, snapping their three-game losing streak and pulling back to .500 at 7-7.

Those 30 points were the most they've scored since their 31-6 beatdown of the Jets prior to the bye week. From an overall production standpoint, Arizona's offense was solid.

Overall, it functioned well enough, as the Cardinals recorded just shy of 400 offensive yards but there are still some questions to answer.

The Good

The Cardinals' ground game was firing on all cylinders. James Conner saw a monster performance, putting up 110 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 6.9 yards per carry, partially thanks to a 53-yard rumble on his first touch.

Conner, with three games remaining, needs just 137 yards on the ground to put up a second-straight 1,000-yard rushing season.

As a team, Arizona racked up 163 yards on the ground on 32 carries, good for 5.1 yards per rush. It was a quintessential look at what offensive coordinator Drew Petzing wants to do: control the football and assert dominance through the run, and it worked efficiently, albeit against a weak opponent.

This is how the Cardinals want to play: they controlled time of possession by an impressive 34:08 to 25:52 margin. When it's working, it's working.

Perhaps the biggest example of this came late. Arizona led 23-10, with plenty of time remaining. Rather than go three-and-out and give the ball back to New England, they converted two third downs, ran the ball well, and drew up smart, efficient pass plays.

The close-out drive went 70 yards, took nine plays, and nearly five minutes off the clock, ending with a resounding second score by Conner.

After a trio of poor to dismal outings by quarterback Kyler Murray, he put out an efficient day through the air, while trying to get his legs going in the run as well.

He completed 23 of 30 passes for 224 yards and rushed five times for 11 yards. He did not record a touchdown or a turnover.

Murray was generally able to work efficiently, looking for his weapons early. He threw a pair of nice deep balls to Marvin Harrison Jr., but both were broken up by exceptional plays on the part of Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

Trey McBride had another excellent day, with 87 yards on nine receptions. He still has yet to find the end zone on a reception.

But the Cardinals began to show some higher levels of creativity in the passing game. Slot receiver Greg Dortch got involved for 60 yards on three receptions.

Murray found his reliable players underneath frequently, but there was still a notable lack of chunk-play proficiency.

It's still a far cry from the level of play needed out of Arizona's franchise quarterback, but it did look a bit more efficient, and Murray, despite a handful of head-scratching plays, at least managed to avoid turnovers for the first time in multiple weeks.

"Good to get back in the win column there. I thought we did enough to win a game. I liked the run game, obviously the fourth down stop on defense and the takeaway. Then our offense scoring points, converting third downs there in the second half I thought were huge components of the game," said head coach Jonathan Gannon postgame.

And the Cardinals were excellent on third down. For the game, they were 10-for-15 on third, and on their final scoring drive they converted two to keep the clock moving. Gannon praised his team's execution on the critical downs.

"Huge. I mean, that's what keeps the offense on the field, their offense off the field, and then that gives you a chance to score points. All these different components of the game, you don't know what's going to beat you or allow you to win, I think that was a huge component of the game today, those third down conversions," Gannon said.

"So it starts with the o-line, quarterback making sure we're in the right stuff, and then guys making a bunch of plays so it was good to see the passing game on third down when we needed those to convert."

The Bad

The New England Patriots are not a good football team. Simply put, it should not be difficult to move the ball against them. This game, while certainly an upgrade offensively, did not pass the eye test when it comes to the ease with which Arizona was able to score.

The Cardinals were stymied for two field goals, and only managed 13 points by halftime, despite moving the ball downfield with relative ease. Deep in the red zone, Petzing elected to hand the ball to Dortch, who fumbled the ball into the end zone.

If not for the quick thinking and reaction of tackle Jonah Williams, it could have been disaster. Thankfully, it resulted in an "other" touchdown, but the result did not speak to the poor situational play.

The Cardinals then followed up with another stalled drive to open the second half. A 16-3 lead isn't the worst number, but the rate of touchdown success needs to be higher.

Murray did not have his worst game, in fact, he generally played well. However, the 27-year-old did make an exceptionally poor play in his own end zone.

Deep in Cardinals territory, Murray lofted an emergency pass that was intercepted, but called back due to a roughing the passer penalty. It was a poor, panicked decision that could have severely hurt the Cardinals.

Murray took a shot to the helmet, and entered the medical tent. Clayton Tune completed both of his pass attempts in relief. Thankfully, Murray returned to finish the game, but it's still concerning to see decisions of that nature, even in a game where the Cardinals were never in real danger.

While it might not have been ugly, it certainly wasn't an air performance than inspires confidence. What happens when 224 yards and no touchdowns through the air goes against a contending team?

The offense is simply one-dimensional, and as excellent as Conner and McBride are, there needs to be more depth, more diversity in route concepts, and plays with more than one read available.