The Cardinals fell out of first place in the NFC West while losing their last three games, but they were able to right the ship and keep themselves within striking distance in the division on Sunday.
James Conner ran for two scores in the fourth quarter to help the Cardinals pull away from the Patriots. The 30-17 home win moves Arizona to 7-7 on the season and they’ll head to Carolina before a Week 17 date with the Rams. They’ll likely need to win both to have any real postseason hopes, but that’s a better spot than they’d be in if they had lost on Sunday.
The Rams moved to 8-6 with Thursday night’s win and the Seahawks will get to 9-5 if they beat the Packers on Sunday night. The Seahawks swept the Cardinals, so Arizona will be rooting for Green Bay in that matchup.
Conner ran 16 times for 110 yards and caught five passes for 28 yards to continue his strong season. Tight end Trey McBride did the same by catching nine passes for 87 yards and Kyler Murray was 23-of-30 for 224 yards.
Murray went for an injury check during the third quarter and missed three plays, but he showed no sign of problems after returning to the game.
After the Cardinals extended their lead to 16-3 on the first drive of the third quarter, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye drove his team inside the Arizona 5-yard-line but they were unable to punch the ball into the end zone. Maye would throw an interception after Murray went into the tent and Conner’s first score pushed things out of reach early in the fourth quarter.
Maye threw a touchdown to Demario Douglas in the fourth quarter and ran for another one with 1:55 left to play, but it was another disappointing day for the Patriots overall. They are now 3-11 and will continue playing out the string in Buffalo next weekend.
