Monday Night Football Odds, Picks & Predictions: Patriots vs. Cardinals (Week 14)

The final game of Week 14 will be played on the road between the New England Patriots (6-6) and the Arizona Cardinals (4-8), as both are seemingly one game away from concrete elimination and looking to bounce back from devastating losses.

As four-point underdogs on the road, the Patriots fell to the Buffalo Bills 24-10 in Week 13 on Thursday night. After a three-game winning streak, it was their second straight loss. In Week 13, the Cardinals were on their bye, but they faced the Los Angeles Chargers at home in Week 12 and lost 25-24 while covering the 3.5-point spread as the underdog. They’ve now dropped two straight and four out of their last five games.

Let’s take a closer look at how things might play out Monday night in Arizona.

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

Details

• Opening Line: Cardinals +1 | O/U 44
• Current Line: Cardinals +1.5 | O/U 44.5
• Last meeting: Nov. 29, 2020 – Cardinals 17, Patriots 20

Overview

The Patriots lost their way as they approached the challenging portion of their schedule just when they appeared to be gaining momentum. Buffalo was the opponent in Week 13’s humiliating loss for New England, who only mustered 10 points and 242 yards of total offense.

The Patriots have now dropped each of their three primetime contests this season, with two being decided by multiple touchdowns. For whatever reason, New England hasn’t been prepared for these crucial games, but maybe a couple extra days off can change that for Bill Belichick’s squad.

Bottom Line

Due to their extreme inconsistency from week to week, the Cardinals have been difficult to predict this season. They’ve lost their last three games at State Farm Stadium, which is an unexpectedly bad home record. These problems have been exacerbated by injuries and suspensions to critical offensive players like DeAndre Hopkins, James Conner and Hollywood Brown. However, Arizona should be better now that it has returned from its bye week; expectedly healthier.

Even still, the troubling nature of Kyler Murray’s relationship with head coach Kliff Kingsbury only seems to worsen as the season continues. And while the Cardinals are not mathematically eliminated from anything, it certainly seems like they have resigned to the fact they are.

For the Patriots, while they’ve left a lot to be desired on offense with QB troubles of their own, they still own one of the league’s best defenses. Coming into his game, they rank top 10 in the league in points allowed, passing yards allowed and total yards allowed. Give me the Patriots to edge out what should be a sloppy game.

Pick: Patriots -1.5

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