New England offense vs. Arizona defense

	PATRIOTS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	26
	Pass	1
	Tot. Yds.	5
	Scoring	8
	Int's allowed	4
	Sacks allowed	17
	CARDINALS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	30
	vs. Pass	2
	Total yds. allowed	14
	No. of INTs	8
	No. of Sacks	9
	Turnover differential	-10

More significant than the fact that the Patriots rushed the ball for 133 yards last week and three touchdowns, was that they proved to defensive coordinators around the league that if you back off into coverage, the running game does make you pay. Arizona, however, plays a more aggressive style of defense and will look to get after Drew Bledsoe by stunting and blitzing with its front seven.

The key for the Cardinals will be the play of its secondary, especially its corners who will frequently be left on an island in coverage. CB Aneas Williams has been virtually a "shut down" corner and will stick to the left side of the field, where he is most comfortable with his footwork, and blanket WR Shawn Jefferson. Opposite Williams will be CB Corey Chavous, coming back from injury, playing press coverage on WR Terry Glenn. Glenn is returning after suffering from a concussion late in last Sunday's game, but he is close to 100%, and will require attention in the deep third from FS Kwamie Lassiter. Lassiter will cheat to Glenn's side to help Chavous down the field.

What New England needs to do to counter the blitz is to get the ball to TE Ben Coates and the back out of the backfield. The Cardinals will play zone underneath, either using SS Tommy Bennett to cover the tight end, or bring Bennett on the blitz and drop a linebacker into coverage. The chess match is simple, the more the Patriots are able to exploit the middle of the field and the short flats, the less the Cardinals will be able to use its personnel to blitz and the more they will be responsible to drop into coverage.

Arizona finally returns the services of DT Eric Swann, just in time to find out that Mark Smith will be missing until the last three games of the season. The Cardinals stack up well against the Patriots up front even with Smith out of the lineup though, and should be able to shut down the run. DE's Andre Wadsworth and Simeon Rice get excellent upfield pursuit and should cause New England's aging offensive tackles, Zefross Moss and Bruce Armstrong, some problems. The Patriots have had extraordinary trouble at the right tackle position, where Moss is supposed to be the line's top run-blocker, but he has been unable to recover completely from a high-ankle sprain and has been splitting time with reserve Max Lane. The line is suffering significantly from Moss' inability to create a surge on the right side, and Moss' limited motion is going to be a major problem on Sunday when he matches up against Wadsworth.

QB Drew Bledsoe is going to have limited time in the pocket all afternoon and needs to do a better job of getting rid of the ball. Bledsoe took four sacks last week, and the biggest complaint is that he takes the sack yardage on first and second down instead of throwing the ball away. Bledsoe must be able to feel the blitz from both sides and find the hot read immediately if the Patriots are going to move the ball. New England is going to have to rely heavily on the arm of Bledsoe again on Sunday, but more importantly on his maturity and experience. The Patriot quarterback is going to have little production from the run game and is going to be playing with pressure in his face all day, and needs to back that pressure off by dumping the ball off and taking advantage of the room vacated underneath by the blitzing Cardinal linebackers.

New England has little depth left at the defensive tackle and linebacker positions, and have been wearing down easily late in games. With Ted Johnson, Tedy Bruschi and Bernard Russ already sidelined by injuries, the Patriots lost their depth when Marty Moore suffered a sprained ankle and Vernon Crawford injured a knee in the fourth quarter. Crawford and Bruschi are expected to split time on Sunday, but this unit is going to have a hard time stacking up if the Cardinals are in position to run the ball with consistency. The Broncos ranked 23rd in the league rushing the ball going into last week's game and averaged 4.9 yards on their 27 rushes.

Over the bye week, there were some major changes up front for the Cardinals, who have been almost completely ineffective running the football. Rookie first-round draft pick L.J. Shelton, who missed the opening two games during an eight-week holdout, has been promoted to starting left tackle in place of Matt Joyce, who has been ineffective in both run blocking and pass protection. The bigger shakeup is at left guard where Chris Dishman, regarded as the team's best run-blocker, has been benched in favor of James Dexter, who began the season as the starting right tackle. Dishman has not regained his form following preseason arthroscopic surgery on his elbow. The emergence of youthful Anthony Clement at right tackle made the move with Dexter possible. Rookie Yufus Scott also will get more snaps at right guard, relieving Lester Holmes, who is coming off a concussion. These moves have been made to at least stir things up on an offensive line that has been stagnant. The hope is to create some competition at just about every position in order to get the best out of each individual.

PK Chris Jacke is just 9-of-13 on the season and looks to be a bit out of sync. In the past two games Jacke has shown the first signs of faltering as a field-goal kicker -- just after the team released its other kicker, Joe Nedney. Jacke's kickoffs also have been less than desired. The coverage teams, both punt and kickoff, have to get better as well. Their work has been discouraging because many rookies, who were drafted specifically to play special teams, have not lived up to expectations.