Pats face Cards on Monday night, look to end 2-game skid

NEW ENGLAND (6-6) at ARIZONA (4-8)

Monday, 8:15 p.m. EST, ESPN

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NFL LINE: Patriots by 1 1/2.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Patriots 6-5-1; Cardinals 6-6.

SERIES RECORD: Patriots lead 8-7.

LAST MEETING: Patriots beat the Cardinals 20-17 on Nov. 29, 2020, in Foxborough, Mass.

LAST WEEK: Patriots lost to Bills 24-10; Cardinals lost to Chargers 25-24 on Nov. 27.

PATRIOTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (24), RUSH (23), PASS (20), SCORING (20)

PATRIOTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (7), RUSH (11), PASS (9), SCORING (t7)

CARDINALS OFFENSE: OVERALL (20), RUSH (21), PASS (17), SCORING (16)

CARDINALS DEFENSE: OVERALL (21), RUSH (10), PASS (24), SCORING (31)

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Patriots plus-2; Cardinals plus-1.

PATRIOTS PLAYER TO WATCH: LB Matt Judon has 13 sacks on the season, second in the NFL to Nick Bosa (14 1/2). Judon has three games this season with at least two sacks. The team record is six games with at least two sacks by Andre Tippett in 1984.

CARDINALS PLAYER TO WATCH: DE J.J. Watt has turned back the clock a bit this season. The veteran already has 6 1/2 sacks this season, which is more than the six sacks he had during the previous two seasons combined.

KEY MATCHUP: Cardinals QB Kyler Murray has his two top receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Marquise Brown together on the field for just the second time this season. The group should provide a good test for the Patriots' secondary, which has been among the best in the NFL this season.

KEY INJURIES: Patriots offensive tackle Marcus Cannon is eligible to return this week from IR (concussion), which would provide some help to a group that was without tackles Isaiah Wynn (foot) and Yodny Cajuste (calf and back) last week. RB Damien Harris is also dealing with a thigh issue. ... The Cardinals have 10 offensive players on IR, including TE Zach Ertz and four starting offensive linemen. CB Byron Murphy Jr. (back) has practiced some this week.

SERIES NOTES: The Patriots have won seven of the past eight games between the two teams. ... The past three games have been decided by a total of seven points. All came down to a late field-goal attempt. Two were missed and one was made. ... This is just the second time the Patriots have played at State Farm Stadium during the regular season, which matches their number of Super Bowl appearances at the stadium.

STATS AND STUFF: Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury was originally drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2003 draft. He spent the season on injured reserve with an arm injury, but did receive a Super Bowl ring. It is the second time this season the Patriots will face a head coach who is a former player of the team after losing to Kevin O’Connell and Minnesota on Thanksgiving. ... Patriots coach Bill Belichick (22-14) is third all time in wins by a head coach in Monday night games. He is behind only Don Shula (33-20) and Andy Reid (24-12). ... Patriots QB Mac Jones has a streak of 156 consecutive passes without an interception, the longest active streak in the NFL. His last intercepted pass was against the New York Jets on Oct. 30. ... S Devin McCourty entered the week second to Harrison Smith for the most interceptions among active NFL players with 33. McCourty, Smith, Marcus Peters and Patrick Peterson are the only active players with at least 30 INTs. ... The Patriots are 26-4 when McCourty has a pick in a regular- season game. McCourty’s 33 interceptions are third in team history to the 36 by Ty Law and Raymond Clayborn. ... LB Josh Uche had two sacks against Buffalo on Dec. 1 to increase his season total to a career-high seven sacks. ... K Nick Folk has made 57 consecutive field goals under 40 yards. His last miss under 40 was a 21-yard field-goal attempt on Oct. 12, 2017 vs. New England when he played for Tampa Bay. The NFL record for most consecutive field goals made under 40 yards is 70 by Baltimore’s Justin Tucker (2016-2020). ... Cardinals DT Zach Allen has already hit career highs for sacks (4 1/2), QB hits (19), passes defensed (seven) and tackles for loss (nine). ... WR Marquise Brown has caught six TD passes in five appearances on "Monday Night Football." The only active players with more TD catches on MNF are Stefon Diggs and Travis Kelce. Both have 12. ... Arizona has had 77 players appear in at least one game this season, which leads the NFL. ... WR DeAndre Hopkins has caught 49 passes in his six games since returning from a six-game suspension, which is the second most in the league since Week 7. Davante Adams has caught 50 passes.

FANTASY TIP: Cardinals RB James Conner ran for 120 yards against the Chargers, which was the first time in his two seasons with the franchise that he's run for more than 100 yards. He should get another chance to put up big numbers since the Cardinals don't have much depth behind him.

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