TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Maybe New England's banged-up defense will allow the Arizona Cardinals to finally get their offense in gear. Then again, with starting quarterback Jake Plummer out with an injury and the Cardinals going with the youngest pair of offensive tackles in the NFL, maybe not.

The Patriots finally found their running game in last week's 24-23 victory over Denver. The Cardinals are still looking, but the depleted linebacking corps in New England should give Arizona some hope Sunday.

"As far as our injury situation at linebacker, it's up in the air right now," New England coach Pete Carroll said. "We won't know until gametime where we sit with our guys. We're on emergency status right now, and we're trying to piece it together."

The Cardinals (2-4) had last week off to heal several injuries and try to shake off their poor start.

"I've always believed that if you let past circumstances get you down, you've got no chance for the present and the future," Arizona coach Vince Tobin said. "That's something I work very, very hard on is try to keep the past in the past. If you're always going `Woe is me and why did this happen and why are we in this situation?' then you've got no chance of getting out of the situation that we're in."

In spite of their record, the Cardinals figure they aren't that far out of the race.

"This is certainly a big week for us. Nobody is really running away from us right now in the NFC East," said Plummer's replacement, Dave Brown.

The Patriots (5-2), are just a half-game behind first-place Miami in the AFC East and have a bye next week. Six of New England's games, four victories. have been decided by three points or less.

The Cardinals know all about close games. In last year's playoff run, Arizona's final six victories came by three or fewer points. It's just a sign of the times in the NFL, New England's Drew Bledsoe said.

"You look around the league and all of the games are close," Bledsoe said. "Nobody is winning easy except the Rams right now, who seem to be tearing everybody up. If you're going to be successful, you've got to be able to perform well and make the plays toward the end of the game to win games, because nobody is going to roll over anybody else in this league right now."

Brown gets his first start since his 53-game tenure as the New York Giants' quarterback ended six games into the 1997 season. He figures to start at least three games while Plummer recovers from the broken finger he sustained when his hand got caught in a defender's facemask against Washington two weeks ago.

Brown's teammates have rallied around him.

"If he could play in New York, he can play anywhere," wide receiver Rob Moore said. "I think he's really going to surprise a lot of people. We have all the confidence in the world in him."

He will try to revive an offense that ranks 29th out of 31 NFL teams, and dead last in rushing. Having Brown and Arizona's other two top receivers, Frank Sanders and David Boston, all healthy for the first time this season should help.

"You always want to open up the pass with the run game," Moore said, "but I think now that we're all back, we're capable of opening up the running game with the passing game, since we have three guys who are legitimate threats."

Tobin shook up the offensive line by moving rookie tackle L.J. Shelton into the starting lineup. The other tackle is second-year player Anthony Clement. Both are just 23 years old.

New England might start Jeff Kopp, who signed just this week, at linebacker if Tedy Bruschi remains out with a knee injury. The linebacking unit was depleted further in last week's 24-23 victory over Denver when Marty Moore and Vernon Crawford both went out with knee injuries.

The defensive questions put more pressure on the Patriots offense, which got a season-high 133 yards on the ground against Denver. Arizona's defense ranks third in the NFL against the pass, but 30th against the run.

"Our pass defense is up there with the upper echelon on of the NFL, but our run defense has a lot of room for improvement," safety Tommy Bennett said. "The Patriots finally got a spark in their running game, and I'm sure they're going to want to continue that, especially playing us, as bad as we've been against the run."

History, or rather geography, is on Arizona's side. Since 1990, the Patriots are 2-12 in games played west of the Mississippi River.

NEW ENGLAND Season schedule and results

ARIZONA Season schedule and results

September 12 @NY Jets W 30-28 September 19 Indianapolis W 31-28 September 26 NY Giants W 16-14 October 3 @Cleveland W 19-7 October 10 @Kansas City L 14-16 October 17 Miami L 30-31 October 24 Denver W 24-23 October 31 @Arizona 4:05pm ET November 15 NY Jets 9:00pm ET November 21 @Miami 1:00pm ET November 28 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET December 5 Dallas 8:20pm ET December 12 @Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 19 @Philadelphia 1:00pm ET December 26 Buffalo 1:00pm ET January 2 Baltimore 1:00pm ET

September 12 @Philadelphia W 25-24 September 19 @Miami L 16-19 September 27 San Francisco L 10-24 October 3 @Dallas L 7-35 October 10 NY Giants W 14-3 October 17 Washington L 10-24 October 31 New England 4:05pm ET November 7 @NY Jets 1:00pm ET November 14 Detroit 4:15pm ET November 21 Dallas 4:15pm ET November 28 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET December 5 Philadelphia 4:05pm ET December 12 @Washington 1:00pm ET December 19 Buffalo 8:20pm ET December 26 @Atlanta 1:00pm ET January 2 @Green Bay 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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