PATRIOTS VS. CARDINALS- IT'S GOING TO TAKE A BIG PLAY FOR THE PATRIOTS TO WIN

At this point last season the Patriots were 9-1.  Many people felt that record wasn't very accurate for how the team was playing.  

​TURNOVER BATTLE- While I could argue the point effectively from both sides of the fence, I can't argue the fact that after ten games last season the Patriots had 6 touchdowns and a safety complements of the defense.  Those 38 points definitely put the Patriots in a good position week after week.  Through ten games this season the Patriots have had only one defensive score.  If you can't remember it, it came week 2 against the Seahawks.  While I would love to see the Patriots defense get into the endzone today, I'll be satisfied if they can manage a takeaway or two.  As I've been preaching all season, win the turnover battle and win the game.  Lately the offense has been very stingy with the ball by not turning it over, however to win the turnover battle the defense needs to make a play.    

FANTASY STATS TO THINK ABOUT- Kyler Murray is a great athlete.  He's leading the league in yards per rushing attempt with 6.7 yards.  While that statistic can sometimes be a bit off early in the season, the fact that we are 10 games in and Murray takes off with the ball almost 10 times per game makes it pretty legit.  While looking at fantasy statistics for a player would probably tick off Belichick, there are some usable data points from playerprofiler I'm going to share.  First up is the fact that he doesn't throw a lot of dangerous and interceptable passes.  Second is that he struggles when pressured.  Of course the Patriots will probably just let him sit back there with a clean pocket to just drive us crazy, but maybe, just maybe we could add a little pressure on third and long today. 

STOP THE RUN- Hopefully the Patriots game plan is to stop the running game of the Cardinals and not themselves.  The Cardinals have the #1 overall offense and are 2nd with running the ball.  While the Patriots are currently #3 with the run, they could be in first if they didn't abandon the run on 1st down last week.  Besides stopping Murray from running the ball, the Patriots need to stop former Dolphin nemesis, Kenyon Drake.  While Drake never really had a big game against the Patriots, he did have a huge play that we'd all love to forget about.  You know the one, Gronk was back on defense and the Dolphins scored.  Murray was the last guy with the ball and evaded all of the lame tackling attempts by the actual defense.  With Larry Fitzgerald out of the lineup and the Cardinals down a few wide receivers, Drake will likely be a target in the passing game as well.   

CARDINALS LIKE THE WHISTLE- The Patriots are at least still the most disciplined team in the NFL as they have only been called for 36 penalties (9 pre-snap).  The Cardinals must like the tweet of the whistle because they are worst in the league with 79 penalties against them (30 pre-snap).   

SIMPLE OFFENSIVE PLAN- Offensively, there are two things I'd like to see.  One thing I'd like to see the team focus on is running the ball on first down.  After that, they can mix it up and I promise I won't complain.  The second thing is stop with the screen passes when it's 3rd and long.  Yes, Cam is struggling with it.  Maybe he is just fine in practice, but during the game it isn't working.  Of course, during the game the fact that they seem to be a stupid call at the time, might be leading to his struggling with the execution.  

COOL INFO- N'Keal Harry briefly lived with Byron Murphy Jr. during his sophomore year of high school at Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe.