Monday Night Football Patriots vs. Cardinals Week 14 – Players to Watch, Betting Preview, and Game Prediction

The Patriots are 6-6, coming off their second loss in a row, and they now travel to Arizona for their third primetime game in a row.

New England will take on the Cardinals on Monday Night Football from State Farm Stadium, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call for the 8:15pm kickoff on ESPN.

Here are their odds for Monday night, thanks to our exclusive wagering partners at BetOnline.ag:

Odds – Patriots (6-6) vs. Cardinals (4-8)

Spread: Patriots -1

Total: 44

Moneyline: Patriots -126/Cardinals +106

Storylines

A clash of two teams with fanbases desperately wanting more is what we’re getting on Monday night. New England was 6-4 and had the inside track to the postseason just a few weeks ago. They’ve now lost two in a row, the offense looks more inept than it has all season long – and now fans, media, and even players seem to be clamoring for a change on the offensive coaching staff.

As for the Cardinals, they picked up quarterback Kyler Murray’s fifth-year option on his contract back in April, and in July signed him to a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension with $160 million fully guaranteed. They have virtually nothing to show for it, as they’ve gone 4-8 since the signing and

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury has been with Arizona since 2019, but the team’s lack of success has him at the top of BetOnline.ag’s list of next head coach to be fired. We’ll see what a loss against New England could do to his good graces with the Bidwell’s.

Players to Watch

Patriots

Matthew Judon

Keep an eye on Matthew Judon this weekend. After having a stranglehold on the NFL’s sack leaderboard through the first two months of the season, the 30-year-old has put up a goose egg in that column in each of his last two games.

After watching the film over it looks to be more of a scheme thing than a performance issue. They’ll certainly want to contain Kyler Murray rather than heavily rush him – but I’d like to see Judon be able to pin his ears back a few times on Monday.

Kendrick Bourne

Kendrick Bourne has been very outspoken about his frustrations this season. Here’s what he said after their loss to the Bills on Thursday: “It’s hard. It goes into the aspect of it, you go to the sideline you’re just like, ‘man.’ You can’t not believe in your abilities, you know we’re all here for a reason. It’s just frustrating as a man, you know what I mean? We’re all men in here and we all want to contribute, but it’s just hard because it’s 11 men. One person can’t mess up, it’ll mess up the whole thing. It’s just about being mentally strong every single play, every single second of the game. It gets frustrating, it’s just a part of the NFL.”

What I wonder is if this will hurt his playing time, again, moving forward – or if it will dictate how they use him. He’s already seemingly been in the Patriots’ doghouse since August and is having the worst season of his career.

Bourne is clearly a solid receiver. He’s shown it. It’s time to get him the ball.

Trent Brown

The only thing that might be worse than New England’s playcalling right now is their offensive line. They’ve dealt with an abundance of injuries over their first 13 games – and even when they have been healthy they haven’t played well.

Tackle Trent Brown has been dealing with an illness for the last two weeks, and his play has suffered because of it. They’ll need the 6’8″ 360-pound monster to get back on track on Monday if they want to have success against a defensive line manned by JJ Watt and Zach Allen.

Cardinals

Kyler Murray

Though Kyler Murray has had an up-and-down career as a passer, he’s always been a threat as a runner. He’s rushed for 2,201 yards and 23 touchdowns over his 3+ seasons in the NFL, and his fast-twitch speed oftentimes makes defenders look silly.

New England has obviously struggled against athletic quarterbacks in 2022, as they’re 0-3 against the likes of Lamar Jackson, Justin Fields, and Josh Allen. They’ll need to keep Murray in check if they want to win in Arizona.

Budda Baker

Though he stands at just 5’9″, Budda Baker has quickly emerged as one of the top safeties in the NFL. He’s the Cardinals leading tackler, seldom gets beat in coverage, and is Arizona’s emotional leader – which has been shown in-depth on HBO’s in-season version of “Hard Knocks”.

Mac Jones will need to know where Baker is at all times on Monday. My suggestion? Stay away.

Prediction/Pick

Despite a tumultuous year in New England so far, the Patriots’ coaching is so far superior to the Cardinals this season – and I think that alone is what gets it done on Monday night.

The Belichicks and Mayo will figure out a way to control Kyler Murray, and Patricia and Mac find a way to put up some points against an Arizona team that’s down for the count.

Patriots win and cover, and the total goes way under 44.

Prediction: Patriots 17 – Cardinals 14

Side: Patriots -1

Total: UNDER 44

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