Keys To Victory - Arizona

It's Friday, and that means its time to break down what the Patriots need to do well against the Cardinals on Sunday at 1pm. First of all, let's not overlook this team. Over the past 10 regular season weeks, The Patriots have the best overall record. However, just behind The Pats is these Cardinals. Also, in these past 10 weeks, Arizona had proven that they finish strong, and can win close games. So, don't starting thinking about Baltimore just yet.

1. Protect the football - This Cardinals Defense is strong on the edges and the perimeter. Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell are better than any pass rushers that The Titans had last week. This is a new test for the Patriots O-Line, and they must rise to the challenge. Solid pockets for Brady will decrease the likelihood of INTs and fumbles considerably. Likewise, Stevan Ridley must continue to keep two hands on the ball when in traffic. Its much easier to get a reputation as a fumbler, than it is to shake it.

2. Stop the Run from The Nickel - Earlier this week, I outlined the different possibilities for Nickel packages given the versatile personnel on D. I expect that The Cardinals will challenge New England's secondary early and often. This will force Matt Patricia to use a lot of Nickel and Dime packages to account for Larry Fitzgerald and company.  The trick will be to stop the run even with extra DBs on the field. The Patriots D cannot allow Beanie Wells and Ryan Matthews to beat them on draw plays, and even short screens. The goal is to take away the threat of play-action to limit the opportunities for deep passes.

3. Establish Ridley - When teams are forced to respect a single RB set as a running formation, it opens up deep opportunities in the passing game out of play action. Brady will probably be under center more often than not to maximize those play action fakes. Ridley had an excellent game last week, and I expect him to get somewhere around 15 carries this week.  I am looking for 75 yards from Stevan to keep the Defense honest. This would be a slight reduction, but 5.0 ypc forces the Defense to account for his talent.

4. Reduce Larry Fitzgerald's Opportunities - Bill Belichick had extremely high praise for Larry Fitzgerald, and all of those words were well deserved by Fitz. Larry has managed to have a HOF-type career without having anything consistent at QB. Larry has ways of overcoming that adversity, and I expect him to do some damage on Sunday. However, we cannot let him have a dominant performance. McCourty and the secondary need to jam him every single time at the line, likewise a Safety needs to keep in front of him if he beats the jam. Be physical, and devote extra bodies to covering him. Let someone else beat us...

5. Look for Wes Welker - McDaniels and Brady took advantage of Brandon Lloyd's favorable match-up last week, but this week he will have Patrick Peterson on him. I expect to see the TEs get their usual targets, but I am feeling Welker for a HUGE game. You know, one of those 12 catch, 130 yards, and a TD-type games. I am sure Welker wants to put this black cloud of a storyline to bed. This is his chance.

* Let's not overlook special teams in this game either. Peterson is a dynamic returner, and Mesko would do well to avoid him as much as possible. I am not saying he needs to kick it out of bounds, but he should at least put some extra hang time on them.