• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Patriots brace for pass-happy Cardinals

Dec 16, 2008 - 4:19 PM Arizona (8-6) at New England (9-5), 1 pm EST

FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- The Arizona Cardinals had little to play for and it showed last weekend.

Just the opposite is true for the New England Patriots, who host the NFC West champion Cardinals on Sunday.

The Patriots are locked in a three-way battle with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins atop the AFC East.

Miami and New York, which meet in the regular-season finale, both hold tiebreakers over New England, which also trails Indianapolis and Baltimore in the wild card chase.

Therefore, the Patriots have to win out and hope for a little help or else they could be left on the outside looking in at the postseason picture.

"Our mentality is each game is a playoff game and we can't afford to lose a game," New England running back Sammy Morris said.

After getting drubbed at home, 33-10, by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Patriots won both games on their West Coast trip, including a 49-26 beating of the horrific Oakland Raiders last weekend.

Matt Cassel, playing just six days after the death of his father, threw for a career-high four scores - three in the first half - as the Patriots built a 35-14 lead at intermission.

"I can't say enough about Matt Cassel," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "I've been through that myself a couple years ago. I know what that's like. I thought he did a great job in his preparation and his focus and showed a lot of commitment to the team. He carried us a long way today."

Randy Moss caught a pair of touchdown passes and Morris ran for 117 yards - his first 100-yard game since October 20 - as the Patriots amassed 277 yards on the ground.

"As a team I think we feel most confident in that we've been able to run the ball effectively as well as thrown it," Morris said. "I think that kind of sets up a potent attack as an offense and obviously it helps out our whole team."

Arizona turned in a listless performance in a 35-14 home loss to the Minnesota Vikings last weekend. Although the Cardinals had clinched the NFC West a week earlier, coach Ken Whisenhunt refused to blame his team's lackluster effort on a hangover effect.

"I didn't see it (a lack of focus) in practice," Whisenhunt said. "I thought we were prepared and ready to play."

Arizona is 0-4 in trips to the East Coast but possess a high-powered passing attack. Kurt Warner is second in the league with 4,290 yards passing and wideouts Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin each had gone over 1,000 yards while combining for 20 touchdowns.