Patriots rally past Cardinals
New England ends a two-game skid while Arizona loses Murray to a troubling injury.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — New England Patriots linebacker Raekwon McMillan was trying to do his job, running over to make sure that teammate Kyle Dugger made the tackle on a routine play.
Suddenly, he saw a football on the ground.
McMillan scooped it up and ran 23 yards for the touchdown, giving the Patriots the go-ahead score in a 27-13 win on Monday night over the Arizona Cardinals, who lost starting quarterback Kyler Murray in the first quarter to a potentially serious knee injury.
“I looked back, saw it was just me and a lineman,” McMillan said of his mindset when scooping the fumble. “I said, ‘If I can’t beat a lineman, then I don’t deserve to be out here.’ ”
New England trailed 13-10 at the break but tied the score at 13-all early in the third quarter after a short field goal. A few minutes lat “Let er, the Patriots got their game-changing play and a 20-13 lead later when McMillan scored his touchdown, snatching the loose ball off the grass and sprinting toward the end zone.
Kyle Dugger forced the turnover by stripping threetime All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who had just caught a pass.
“I try to be perfect. I let myself down,“Hopkins said. Coach down, let the guys down. I haven’t fumbled all year. It is definitely a reminder to protect the ball.”
The Patriots pushed their advantage to 27-13 early in the fourth quarter on Pierre Strong Jr.’s three-yard run, then leaned on their defense to complete the muchneeded win. New England’s defense had six sacks, including three by linebacker Josh Uche.
Mac Jones threw for 235 yards and finished 24 for 35 with an interception as New England (7-6) ended a twogame skid to strengthen its AFC playoff positioning.
“There’s going to be a lot of change over these next four weeks for everybody, that’s just how it goes,” center David Andrews said. “You start looking at [playoffs] and you’ll let something slip away.”
Arizona (4-9) has lost five of six games, including the last three. Murray was hurt on the third play of the game, immediately changing the complexion of the evening. The fourth-year quarterback was flushed out of the pocket and running to his right when he tried to juke past a Patriots defender, but tumbled to the grass.
“I’ve never seen him in that kind of shape, so it doesn’t look good,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said.