Kyle Dugger forced a third quarter fumble that was returned for a game winning touchdown by Raekwon McMillan on Monday night, as the New England Patriots topped the Arizona Cardinals 27-13 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Arizona (4-9) had the ball first and quarterback Kyler Murray would suffer a leg injury on that opening series, forcing him from the game and he wouldn’t return. Colt McCoy would enter to take over, and Matt Prater would miss a 50 yard field goal that ended the first drive. Arizona used a Mac Jones interception to put up the first points of the night as Prater connected on a 33 yard field goal early in the second quarter. A 14 yard touchdown run by Kevin Harris gave New England the lead on their next possession. Another Prater field goal cut it 7-6, before the hosts took the lead again on a James Connor 10 yard scoring run. Nick Folk got the Patriots back within three at the halftime break at 13-10 with a 51 yard field goal with four seconds remaining.
New England tied it by taking the second half kickoff and getting another Folk field goal this time a 23 yarder helped by a big 44 yard Pierre Strong run. The Patriots defense would take over from there. The game winner came on the second possession for Arizona in the third quarter. Dugger stripped the ball from DeAndre Hopkins, who was trying to make a move up field with the ball in one hand. The fumble was then then scooped up and taken 23 yards into the endzone by McMillan. The next drive for the Cardinals ended in New England territory when McCoy was hit by Josh Uche forcing an interception by Marcus Jones. That would lead to a three yard touchdown by Strong early in the fourth that ended the scoring. That score was helped by a Jones 39 yard completion to Hunter Henry a play earlier. Uche had three sacks on the night, and Matt Judon had 1.5 as the guests recorded six of those in the game. Uche has 10 sacks on the season, with all of them coming in the last five games.
Jones finished 24-35 passing for 235 yards and didn’t throw a touchdown against one interception in the win. Strong led the backfield with five carries for 70 yards and a touchdown, after Rhamondre Stevenson left with an injury and didn’t return. Henry had three catches for 70 yards, while both Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor had five receptions for 47 and 32 yards respectively. Dugger finished with seven total tackles. McCoy was 27-40 for 246 yards and an interception in the loss for Arizona. Connor had 15 rushes for 85 yards and a touchdown. Hopkins reeled in seven receptions for 79 yards. New England is now 7-6 and back into the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC for now. The Patriots play in Las Vegas against the Raiders on Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
