by Kent Somers - Sept. 16, 2012 01:26 PM
azcentral sports
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It probably is hyperbole to say the Cardinals season hung in the balance as the Patriots' 42-yard field goal attempt sailed left in the final seconds Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
It was just the second game, one-sixteenth of a season, and the leaves in New England still think it's summer.
But despite the obvious disclaimers, the Cardinals' 20-18 victory was the sort upon which a football season can pivot. In today's sports vernacular, they are called "statement" games, although coach Ken Whisenhunt recoiled at that premise.
"Naw, we don't want to talk about statements," Whisenhunt said. "It's two games, OK? I'm proud of our guys, the way they worked, the way they played."
Only time will tell if the victory will mean more than that. Maybe in January, the Cardinals will point to Sept. 16 as a defining moment in a successful season. Or maybe it won't seem nearly as important as it does on Sept. 17.
Whatever.
For one day at least, the Cardinals defied odds. They were 13 1/2-point underdogs. The Patriots were 10-0 in home openers since moving to Gillette in 2002. They were 18-2 against NFC teams there.
Now, they are 10-1 and 18-3 and 1-1. Right now, that's enough for the 2-0 Cardinals.
"Some guys in the locker room describe it as a statement game," said cornerback Patrick Peterson, who had an interception in the first quarter. "But we'll have to wait and see what the rest of the season has for us."
In typical Cardinals fashion, nothing that happened in the last few minutes was typical.
They lost a fumble. The Patriots had a touchdown run called back. And Stephen Gostkowski, who had four field goals in the game, including two from more than 50 yards, shanked the potential game winner to the left.
"It's crazy, it's nuts," quarterback Kevin Kolb said. "It seems to be just our vibe: As soon as you think you get in a rhythm, or as soon as things are done, then something sparks it up."
Dating to last season, the Cardinals have won 9 of their past 11 games. Four of those were in overtime. The largest margin in the other five was four points.
"I'll tell you what," Peterson said, "if it's close, I think we have a pretty good chance of pulling it out."
The Cardinals outplayed the Patriots throughout, but were fortunate to win. They led 20-18 and were trying to run the clock out when running back Ryan Williams fumbled with 1:01 left.
Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes caused the fumble by putting his helmet on the ball, although it appeared Williams made a mistake by trying to make something out of a play that was going nowhere.
Whisenhunt couldn't offer an opinion on that.
"I'm still traumatized by seeing the ball pop out," he said.
He wasn't the only one. Williams, who has fumbled in his only two NFL games, fought a losing battle with his emotions on the sideline.
"I was just doing my best not to cry on the field, national TV," Williams said. "And I ended up crying anyway."
The Patriots recovered at the Cardinals 30 and two plays later had a 30-yard touchdown run nullified by a holding penalty on tight end Rob Gronkowski.
They still managed to move to the 18-yard line, where coach Bill Belichick decided to have quarterback Tom Brady kneel down on two successive plays to set up Gostkowski's attempt on the last play.
He missed it badly.
"There's probably not another game where I'd be more confident going out for a kick like that," Gostkowski said. "It humbles you really quickly. I had a chance to make a big impact on the game and it turned South."
After the game, the Patriots talked about how they had practiced poorly leading up to the game. And losing starting tight end Aaron Hernandez to an ankle injury in the first quarter hurt their cause.
But the Cardinals didn't play a perfect game, either. They lost two fumbles. And while Kolb was efficient, he missed a couple of open receivers for big plays.
The Cardinals, however, looked far better than they had since reporting to training camp. Brady was sacked four times and the Cardinals limited big plays in the passing game. They blocked a punt and turned it into a touchdown. And while they gained only 245 total yards, 75 of that came on a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
If the Cardinals made a statement in Sunday's game, Kolb summed it up as this:
"It wasn't like we played a perfect game," he said. "We have a lot to improve on and like I said, if you can get those ugly wins checked off, that's big."
Rewind
Key player: Defensive end Darnell Dockett. He had four tackles but one of them was for a loss. And it was his tipped pass that Patrick Peterson intercepted in the first quarter.
Key moment: The Patriots trailed 13-9 midway through the third quarter. They had a nice drive going when they faced a third-and-6 at the Cardinals 30. Danny Woodhead took a handoff to the right, and Dockett tackled him for a 9-yard loss. That took the Patriots out of field-goal position, forcing them to punt.
Key number: 1 for 3: That's what the Patriots were when it came to scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
Injury report: Tight end Todd Heap (knee). Heap said he's fine, but players usually say that. There probably won't be more information until mid-week.
View from the press box: Two things you don't often experience at Gillette Stadium: quiet and boos. The crowd of 68,756 was oddly quiet through much of the game. When they did make noise, it occasionally was because they were booing the Patriots offense. They especially didn't like some of the play-calling, including running plays on third down.
What we learned
Offense: So the Cardinals gained only 245 yards, but statistics don't tell the story of Sunday's game. Coordinator Mike Miller and the rest of the offensive staff put together a creative game plan that included cornerback Patrick Peterson taking direct snaps, quarterback Kevin Kolb running up the middle for a 5-yard score and the team successfully executing a screen pass. The Cardinals were able to stick with their game plan of being patient and not forcing things. Kolb lost a fumble, and he'll kick himself for a long time for missing LaRod Stephens-Howling on a screen pass. Stephens-Howling had open ground and several blockers ahead of him. But Kolb showed toughness and made some key plays. The offensive line, which has taken a lot of criticism, yielded one sack and the Cardinals rushed for 105 yards. It took 33 carries to get there, but any time you can run it 33 times, something is going right for you. Tight end Todd Heap was a big factor again, catching five passes for 62 yards. His knee injury is a cause for concern. It's impossible to give receiver Early Doucet enough credit for a 9-yard gain made at the end of the third quarter. Doucet took a vicious hit by hung on for the first down. Some fans questioned the wisdom of pitching the ball to Ryan Williams in the final minute. But the pitch wasn't the problem, fumbling later was. Williams was trying to make something out of nothing and should have just gone down.
Defense: If the Cardinals play all year like they did Sunday, coordinator Ray Horton will be a head coach in the league in 2013. He relied less on pressure than normal, counting on four rushers to get to Tom Brady. They did a decent job, finishing with four sacks. But the secondary deserves most of the credit for those. Brady had nowhere to go with the ball. Defensive end Calais Campbell benefitted from two coverage sacks. Campbell and fellow end Darnell Dockett, however, made huge stops in the run game. The Cardinals stayed in their nickel scheme most of the day, with cornerback Jamell Fleming in and nose tackle Dan Williams coming out. The linebackers and defensive backs played well most of the afternoon. Rarely did the Patriots have receivers running wide open and rarely did the Cardinals miss a tackle. Want to know what a burgeoning star looks like? It's linebacker Daryl Washington. He had 13 tackles, including one for loss. It gets lost amidst the chaos at the end of the game, but safety Kerry Rhodes had great coverage on Rob Gronkowski on the failed two-point conversion attempt.
Special teams: The Cardinals are convinced they are in the heads of kickers throughout the league. Maybe so. They've blocked 13 field goals since 2008, including one last week. They think that has an impact on kickers. Maybe that was to blame for Stephen Gostkowski's 42-yard miss on the final play, but who knows? After yielding two big plays a week ago, the Cardinals made some of their own on Sunday. Quentin Groves blocked a punt that resulted in a touchdown. Punter Dave Zastudil averaged 46.7 yards and pinned the Patriots at the 9 and the 10-yard lines. Kicker Jay Feely made both field-goal attempts, from 38 and 47. He is 4-for-4 this season.
17 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/articles/2012/09/16/20120916arizona-cardinals-escape-new-england-patriots.html
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