Arizona Cardinals

Patriots will have to Cover Well on First Down

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

In order for New England to win Sunday night in Arizona, the Patriots defense will have to excel in pass coverage on first down.

The 2015 Arizona Cardinals were good on first down, very good. Their Bruce Arians passing attack was masterfully crafted by Carson Palmer and a lot of it came on first down.

Palmer threw for 4,671 yards last season and 1,873 of them came on first down on 206 attempts. That’s Palmer averaging 9.1 yards per attempt on first down, less than a yard shy of a first down per attempt.

Arizona was second in the league in total first downs last season with 373. Only New Orleans had more (381). The Cards achieved first down by way of the pass 237 times vs only 92 rushes.
New England’s defense was okay against the pass last season allowing an average of 6.2 yards per attempt over the course of the regular season. Palmer found John Brown, Larry Fitzgerald, and Michael Floyd often last year and will look to again against New England’s bump and run coverage.

With Hightower stepping up as a leader, he will have to cover the Cardinal stable of pass catching backs while also being able to cover the middle of the field as Arizona tries to get the ball in the receivers hands by way of crossing routes.

Devin McCourty, Malcolm Butler, and Logan Ryan will have to play aggressive on early downs and keep the patriots in the game. Despite how good Jimmy Garoppolo plays, the fate of this game will be in the hands of the defense facing an offense that loves to throw the ball first down and they do it extremely well.