Cardinals' Defense Looks to Regain Mojo vs. Patriots

The Arizona Cardinals defense has underachieved in 2022, but they have a chance to regain some mojo this week vs the New England Patriots.

Richie Bradshaw | Dec 7, 2022

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Arizona Cardinals

It's far from a secret that the Arizona Cardinals' defense has been bad in 2022. The defense is currently 21st in total yards allowed per game and second to last in points allowed per game. That is going to lose you a lot more football games than you'll win.

Additionally, few players have had individual success for the unit. J.J. Watt is the Cardinals' leading sack artist with 6.5; a solid number but that places him tied for just 26th most in the league. The Cardinals also lack a turnover machine with seven players having one interception this year, which leads the team.

The culmination of all of this has led to one of the league's worst defenses that desperately needs something to change if they want to make a late-season push for the playoffs.

Thankfully for them, they have a great opportunity this week to get some of their mojo back.

The New England Patriots will be coming to town for this week's Monday Night Football matchup and the Cardinals have to be licking their chops. The Patriots are currently 24th in yards per game and 20th in points per game. They also lack any superstars worth losing sleep over.

While Rhamondre Stevenson has been a stud this year, he isn't quite a Derrick Henry-level threat to opposing defenses. Mac Jones has also thrown as many touchdowns (seven) as interceptions this season and his pass-catchers lack a true matchup nightmare.

With the play-calls coming from defensive-minded coach Matt Patricia this year (you couldn't explain this to me if I was the smartest man in the world), it isn't a wonder that the Patriots have struggled offensively. This is exactly what the Cardinals need.

Come Monday night, the Cardinals will be fresh off their bye week and ready to right the mistakes they made against the Los Angeles Chargers. Expect this unit to be much more in this matchup and perhaps make some big plays and regain some confidence.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury says you don't have to worry about their effort despite being basically out of the playoff picture.

“These guys are professionals, and they show up. It’s week to week and they want to make sure that we play our best football these last five weeks," Kingsbury said.

"It starts with a Monday night national football (game) on national tv (against the) greatest coach of all time. They understand what’s in front of them so yeah, there’s really no change in anyone’s motivation to show up and be the best you can be.”

We haven't seen a dominant defensive performance out of the Cardinals to this point in 2022, but this matchup against the Patriots presents the perfect opportunity to give us just that.