Ups & Downs: Patriots defense shines again, rookies impress in win over Cardinals

BOSTON -- A win is a win, and the Patriots desperately needed a win after losing two straight to fall out of the AFC playoff picture. But Monday night's victory over the Cardinals still wasn't pretty, and we still have a ton of questions regarding the New England offense.

At least the defense continues to carry the load, as it did in Monday night's 27-13 win. The New England defense led to more points for the offense, and even took matters into its own hands when the team needed it most. Kyle Dugger's forced fumble on DeAndre Hopkins and Raekwon McMillan's scoop-and-score changed the game in the third quarter, and Josh Uche and Matthew Judon finished things off by battering Colt McCoy throughout the second half.

It was another ugly win against a bad opponent, but the Patriots need all the wins they can get as they hit the final month of the season. At 7-6, they are back to being a playoff team, even if they look like anything but one when they're on the field.

At least winning Monday night will make the next four weeks a lot more interesting than if the Patriots had lost in Arizona. Here are the "Ups and Downs" from Monday night's win in the desert.

Ups

Strong defense leads to points

The defense had two more takeaways Monday night, and both led to points for the Patriots.

With the game knotted at 13-13 in the third quarter, Kyle Dugger punched the ball out of DeAndre Hopkins' hand (not hands -- had he had both on the ball it probably wouldn't have been fumbled) and Raekwon McMillan was in the right place at the right time to scoop it up and bring it back 23 yards to the house. 

On Arizona's next possession, Josh Uche put some serious pressure on Colt McCoy and forced an early throw that was picked off by Marcus Jones. The Patriots offense then did its part, with Mac Jones hitting Hunter Henry for a 39-yard connection to set up a Pierre Strong rushing touchdown, giving New England a 27-13 lead.

The defense was a wagon in the second half, coming up with four sacks and pitching a shutout over the final 30 minutes.

Josh Uche continues to shine

Uche has developed into quite the playmaker on defense over the last five weeks. On Monday night, in addition to causing an interception, he had three sacks, four QB hits, and five tackles. 

Monday night was Uche's second three-sack game of the season and he's now up to 10 sacks on the season. All of those sacks have come since Week 8. He came into the season with just four sacks in 21 games.

Scary pass rush

The defense took full advantage of going against Colt McCoy, sacking the Arizona backup six times. Matthew Judon (1.5 sacks), Daniel Ekuale (one sack), and Lawrence Guy (0.5 sacks) also got to McCoy, who was hit nine times overall by the Patriots' defense.

Judon is now up to 14.5 sacks on the year. The Patriots now have two players with double-digit sack totals for just the fourth time in team history.

Rookies step up

Damien Harris didn't play and Rhamondre Stevenson left with an ankle injury. That would normally spell doom for the offense, but a pair of rookies made some big runs out of the backfield.

Kevin Harris made a nice cut off a Kendrick Bourne block and dove in for the final yards of a 14-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. It was Harris' first touchdown in the NFL, and New England's first red zone touchdown since Week 9. 

Pierre Strong had a big second half, which included a 44-yard run that eventually set up a field goal. He scored his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter from three yards out, and finished the evening as New England's leading rusher with 70 yards on just five attempts. 

Harris appeared to be in the doghouse after fumbling a handoff (which he may or may not have known was coming) late in the first half. But given the circumstances, it was a nice night for New England's rookie running backs. And they may be called upon a lot in the coming weeks depending on the health of the rest of the group.

Tavai's tip

Jahlani Tavai saved a big play when the Cardinals went for it on fourth-and-1 at the New England 32 late in the first half, tipping away McCoy's pass to a wide open Trey McBride that would have went for a big gain.

Instead, the Patriots took over and the offense was able to add a field goal to cut Arizona's lead to 13-10 at the half.

The defense came up big on fourth down, allowing the Cardinals to convert on just one of their five attempts.

Downs

The offense still has issues

Injuries played into this, and we'll touch on those in a minute. But the offense still looked lost for most of the game on Monday.

The Patriots had four three-and-outs, including a three-play drive late in the second quarter that lost 11 yards. That's not exactly the best way to answer a touchdown drive by the opposition.

New England's first offensive possession was derailed by a false start on Trent Brown that turned a third-and-9 into a third-and-14. The Pats punted after four plays on the drive.

They were hit with back-to-back penalties on a third down in the second quarter as well: a delay of game and an illegal shift. The Pats also had to burn a timeout early in the third quarter to avoid another delay of game, which is when Mac was caught on camera with some colorful words for his sideline for the second straight week.

Bill Belichick admitted after the game that the offense still has a long way to go. With four games left in the season, they are running out of time to get there.

Play-calling remains baffling

Facing a third-and-14 after a delay of game, Matt Patricia dialed up a ... screen play? The Pats picked up just four yards on a Jones screen to Stevenson, and then punted the ball away. 

Then, just before halftime, after moving down the field through the air, the Patriots called for a run play once they got into field goal range. With 10 seconds on the clock.

To make matters worse, Kevin Harris didn't seem to know that he was getting the handoff, and the ball fumbled to the ground. Peyton Manning spoke for all Patriots fans with his reaction to the play -- and the play-call.

Luckily Mac Jones fell on it, and Nick Folk nailed a 51-yard field goal, but why the heck were they running the ball in that situation? To turn a 45-yard field goal attempt into a... 43-yard field goal attempt?

A number of third-down passes were well short of moving the chains, as the Pats were just 3-for-11 on third down.

Jones was fuming last week over the "quick plays" not working. He threw a dozen screen passes on Monday, though as he said after the game, "it worked" and the Patriots won the game.

But Matt Patricia has really been leaving us -- and his players -- scratching our heads a lot this season.

Injuries

These were rough. Kyle Murray went down on Arizona's third offensive play and had to be carted off the field after a non-contact injury. It was not a fun sight to see, and it took a lot of juice out of the game.

And then the injuries started to pile up for the Patriots. DeVante Parker suffered a head injury in the first quarter and was ruled out. With Jakobi Meyers already on the shelf with a concussion, it left Mac's receiving corps even thinner. 

Then Stevenson went down with an ankle injury, and though he tried to play in the third quarter, he was eventually ruled out. He said that he hopes to play next Sunday in Las Vegas, but his absence would leave the Patriots without their bell cow out of the backfield. 

Damien Harris is still hurt as well, missing his second straight game with a thigh injury. He's missed four games on the season.

The defense also had to deal with an injury, with Jack Jones leaving with a knee injury. It's not an ideal situation for the Patriots with a short week ahead.