By: Jake Rajala

The New England Patriots defense strives to defeat their opponents by a thousand cuts under the utterly disciplined Bill Belichick. The Patriots have allowed high-end defenders to leave their building, but they have had the mindset that “the show must go on”. The Pats lost J.C. Jackson this off-season, but BB still feels confident in his defense having play-making ability against its opponents.

The Pats pass defense features CB Jalen Mills, CB Terrance Mitchell, SS Kyle Dugger, and the NE legend FS Devin McCourty. They also recently brought back the Super Bowl XLIX legend Malcolm Butler. He was technically retired in 2021, but he nicely hauled in four ints in 2020. Belichick clearly went under the hood to dig up his former pal.

The J.C. Jackson-led Patriots pass defense in 2021 allowed the second-fewest passing yards and fourth-fewest passing touchdowns. It would be an understatement to say it would be a challenge for the Pats defense to match its 2021 success. I expect them to float around the Top-15 mark in pass defense, have turnover magic from McCourty, but still have growing pains at their CB spot. It’s safe to say that Belichick will be eating popcorn and scouting the most superb CFB CBs soon.

The Pats front seven also lost a talented face (Chase Winovich), but they still carry the talented edge rusher Matthew Judon (12.5 sacks in 2021) and the other former Michigan Wolverine Josh Uche. It appears that the Pats will not bring back the veteran Dont’a Hightower. NE ranked 19th in sacks and 22nd in rushing yards in 2021. I foresee the Pats being a middle-of-pack pass rushing unit, but I expect them to have a more impressive run defense with a more mature Christian Barmore. Evan Lazar from the team’s official website noted that the 2021 second-round pick did a ton of conditioning this off-season.

The Patriots defense will need to take on a scrappy, “why not us” attitude in the upcoming season. It’s honestly a bit of a rebuilding season for the Patriots defense, but I expect them to be stingy and rarely get blown out of the building. The second-place AFC East team in 2021 will lean on Mac Jones, but the Pats defense should still be a modest all-around unit in 2022.

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The New England Patriots have officially brought Malcolm Butler out of retirement, according to Yahoo Sports. It appears that Emperor Belichick’s plan is coming together as he expected. Matt Patricia returned the last offseason and now his former Super Bowl hero corner has returned to the Belichick kingdom.

I don’t expect the Pats to reel in overly shiny armor for Mac Jones moving forward, but I do expect them to make a few more underrated moves. The Patriots CB Jonathan Jones is recruiting Stephon Gilmore, but I don’t foresee him returning on a cap-friendly contract. It would make a ton of sense if the Bengals, 49ers, or Raiders ink Gilmore.

If the Pats are fixed on adding another free agent CB and they aren’t able to reunite with Gilmore, it may be wise to ink Janoris Jenkins. Jackrabbit isn’t “washed up” and he was a quality contributor on the AFC one seed in Tennessee last season. He hauled in three interceptions in the past two seasons combined and he also has 18 combined pass deflections in the past two years.

There has been speculation that the Patriots should target a WR soon and it would make sense if that’s their next move. The former Bills star Cole Beasley would be a very interesting fit in the Patriots. He has 82 receptions in each of the past two seasons and he would be a nice security blanket for Mac Jones from the slot. Danny Amendola and Mohammaed Sanu have experience with the Pats and they could be good value pickups, as well.

It would be ideal if the Pats add veteran talent at CB and WR before the NFL Draft. Expect Belichick to keep his foot on the pedal in the AFC East division that just introduced to Tyreek Hill.

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By: Gladys Louise Tyler

The 8-8 Arizona Cardinals were in the playoff hunt for part of the 2020 season. This is true even though head coach Kliff Kingsbury was 3-9 against the NFC West, including a 0-4 record against Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams. 

The Cardinals started 2-0 in the West, only to end on a four-game losing streak in the division. 

They were 5-2 before ending the season on a 3-6 bender.

There were a few reasons for the losing streak:

1. Wide receiver Christian Kirk looked the part of the number two wide receiver until the final eight games. In the last eight, he managed a paltry 22 receptions, 234 yards, and zero touchdowns.
2. Quarterback Kyler Murray got injured in Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks. After that, the offense scores 30 plus points only once the rest of the season.
3. Linebacker Chandler Jones incurred a bicep injury in Week 5.  He ended his season with 11 total tackles and one sack. Without Jones, the Cardinals’ defense gave up close to 28 points a game on the road.

There is also the possibility that Kingsbury’s offensive prowess is over-rated, but that could be an overstatement as the offense worked for the first half of the season.

But this year the Cardinals will not only reverse their fortunes within their division, but win the NFC West outright.

At first glance, it seems like an improbable statement. The NFC West is the most competitive division in the NFL. But it is possible, and here is why:

QUARTERBACK KYLER MURRAY

Murray showed improvement until his Week 11 injury. He finished the season with a completion percentage that was 2.8% better than the previous year.  He threw for six more touchdowns and had 40 more rushing attempts.  The rushing attempts elevated his rushing touchdowns by seven compared to last year. 

WIDE RECEIVER DEANDRE HOPKINS

There is no doubt the addition of Hopkins boosted the offense. Hopkins finished the season with a career-high 71.9% catch rate.  He was targeted 160 times and had six touchdowns.

This being his second year with Murray should make the pairing that much more formidable and the duo should put up huge numbers in 2021. 

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION

This might be the most important reason the Cardinals are set to win the division this year.  Their free agency acquisitions are more of a “win-now” mentality than let’s rebuild for the future.

Although they lost both Patrick Peterson and Kenyan Drake in free agency, they gained players (who, if they remain healthy) will help them win now.

• Running back James Conner
• Wide receiver AJ Green
• Defensive end JJ Watt
• Cornerback Malcolm Butler
• Kicker Matt Prater

And yes, the NFC West did make some splash acquisitions. The Los Angeles Rams acquired quarterback Matthew Stafford for the win-now mentality.  The San Francisco 49ers obtained Trey Lance for the future, and well, the Seattle Seahawks attempted to upgrade their defense, with cornerbacks Ahkello Witherspoon and Pierre Desire and defensive end Aldon Smith. 

THE SCHEDULE

Depending on your “go-to” source, the Cardinals either have the fourth most difficult schedule or the 13^th.  If you go by the Cbssports.com strength of schedule, the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks will face a harder schedule than the Cardinals. 

CARDINALS 2021 SCHEDULE

WEEK 1 @ TENNESSEE TITANS

WEEK 2 v MINNESOTA VIKINGS

WEEK 3 @ JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

WEEK 4 @ LOS ANGELES RAMS

WEEK 5 v SAN FRANCISCO NINERS

WEEK 6 @ CLEVELAND BROWNS

WEEK 7 v HOUSTON TEXANS

WEEK 8 v GREEN BAY PACKERS

WEEK 9 @ SAN FRANCISCO NINERS

WEEK 10 v CAROLINA PANTHERS

WEEK 11 @ SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

WEEK 12—NOV 28 BYE WEEK

WEEK 13 @ CHICAGO  BEARS

WEEK 14 v LOS ANGELES RAMS

WEEK 15 @ DETROIT LIONS

WEEK 16 v INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

WEEK 17 @ DALLAS COWBOYS

WEEK 18 v SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

WINNING THE NFC WEST

This is Kingsbury show me year.  His team has to improve against the West foes, including the zero wins against the Rams.  The Niners will have the slew of players that were injured back; the question remains it Trey Lance or Jimmy Garoppolo under center this season.  The Seahawks are, well, the Seahawks, doing little to appease quarterback Russell Wilson’s concerns; they remain who we thought they were until proven otherwise.

The path through the NFC West appears to go through California.  If the Cardinals can break even with their NFC West rivals, there is no reason they cannot overtake the NFC West championship belt (and if there isn’t one, there should be).

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