DeAnde Hopkins, Colt McCoy take blame for Cardinals' loss but it wasn't just them

DeAndre Hopkins stood in front of his locker wearing just a shirt and a towel around his waist and shook his head as he looked at reporters and television cameras.

There were plenty of reasons why the Cardinals lost to the Patriots 27-13 on Monday Night Football at State Farm Stadium, and the veteran wide receiver made it clear that he puts the loss squarely on himself after losing a third-quarter fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

“It’s tough, you know. Obviously, the fumble, I think, hurt us more than anything,” Hopkins said. “I take responsibility for that. I think that’s where everything went downhill. They got back the momentum and it seemed like it kept coming, so that’s on me.”

The Cardinals lost starting quarterback Kyler Murray to a knee injury on the third play of the game and it is feared he could be lost for the rest of the season. Arizona, though, still had its chances to not only stay in this game but win it with backup Colt McCoy under center.

McCoy led the team on three scoring drives on the Cardinals’ first five possessions and they had a 17-3 lead after James Conner’s bulldozing 10-yard touchdown run with 2:59 remaining in the first half. But then the mistakes started piling up and before they knew it, the Cardinals were finished, losing for the seventh time in their last nine games to fall to 4-9 on the season.

The first real big one came on fourth and 1 from the Patriots’ 32-yard line on Arizona’s final possession of the first half. McCoy had a wide-open tight end Trey McBride along the right sideline. The rookie had gotten behind the coverage and had a clear pathway to the end zone.

Instead, McCoy’s pass was just a little underthrown and linebacker Jahlani Tavai was able to deflect the football harmlessly away. The Patriots took over on downs with 32 seconds left in the half and gained enough yards for Nick Folk to boot a 51-yard field.

“We had some plays this week where we were really trying to get the ball to Trey in certain areas and I missed him twice,” McCoy said, adding, “… I’ve got to be sharper, for sure.”

Later, a false start penalty on third down hurt the Cardinals’ chances on their first possession of the third quarter and one fourth and 6 from the Patriots’ 41, McCoy went deep to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. The ball slipped through his hands on a diving catch attempt.

“We had our opportunities tonight and unfortunately, we just let it slip away,” said McCoy, who was 27 of 40 for 246 yards and no touchdowns.

The Cardinals forced a quick three and out on New England’s ensuing possession after the missed opportunity to Brown, but after another penalty, this one for illegal contact, the Hopkins’ catch and fumble occurred. Trying to turn it into a big play, Hopkins carelessly held the ball with an outstretched left hand, and he lost it while being shadowed by safety Kyle Dugger.

Linebacker Raekwon McMillan picked it up and rumbled 23 yards for a defensive touchdown and a 20-13 Patriots’ lead with 5:32 left in the third. New England never looked back.

“I try to be perfect, and I let myself down today,” said Hopkins, who finished with a game-high seven receptions for 79 yards. “I let Colt down, let the other guys down. I haven’t fumbled all year, so this was definitely a reminder of ‘just protect the ball.’ ”

The Cardinals couldn’t do that on their next possession, either. On second-and-13 from the Patriots’ 40, McCoy spotted Hopkins open deep down the field, but as he was throwing the ball he got hit by linebacker Josh Uche. As a result, the ball was badly underthrown and it made for an easy interception by Marcus Jones.

Five plays later, Patriots’ rookie running back Pierre Strong Jr. ran three yards up the middle for a touchdown and that was it. New England, which hadn’t had a rushing touchdown in any of its previous five games, got two from rookie runners on Monday as Kevin Harris scored earlier in the game following an ankle injury to starter Rhamondre Stevenson.

Although both of Arizona’s turnovers turned into 14 points for New England and represented the margin of victory, it wasn’t just those miscues the caused the Cardinals to lose on Monday night for the second time in three weeks. Eight penalties and six sacks (three by Uche) were killers as well.

“The self-inflicted stuff offensively was really bad tonight,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “The illegal shifts on big plays, you can’t do that. It’s just unacceptable and we’ve got to be better no matter who’s out there operating, no matter who’s in. Obviously, there’s some guys that are backups that are getting a lot of time. We’ve just got to execute at a high level and when you have a chance to make big plays, you’ve got to make them.”

With concerns that Murray’s injury could be season-ending, there aren’t many reasons for hope during the final month of the schedule.

“Where we’re at sucks, but you’ve got to turn the page,” Hopkins said. “This is the NFL, and you never know what can happen, what’s going to happen. … There’s a couple people in here who have won a Super Bowl, so I think for everybody who hasn’t won a Super Bowl they’ve been dealing with adversity their whole career.

“The NFL teaches you a lot, not just about the game, but about yourself and overcoming it.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals, Patriots, NFL, Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy, DeAndre Hopkins