Rapid reactions: James Conner’s triple-digit day fuels Cardinals past Patriots

Dave Burns, co-host of Burns & Gambo: We had circled this part of the schedule the moment we got it in our hands back in May and with good reason. On Sunday we found out why.

The Cards need all the help they can muster right now to get to the playoffs and having the Patriots on the schedule definitely counts as help. Next week’s game at Carolina should be as well, though that one feels a little trappy due to Bryce Young elevating his play as of late and the Cardinals history of struggles in that stadium. For now though, as the NFL graphic reminds us, the Cards remain “In The Hunt” for a playoff spot. But they still need help.

They’ll need help from the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. The Cards need to stack wins while the Seahawks stack losses. Seattle has the Packers and the Vikings the next two weeks. One more win for the Cards and two losses for Seattle resets the entire conversation. You can’t count on it but it’s reasonable enough to think it could happen. The Cardinals also need to help themselves.

Kyler Murray and the offense were better but were plagued by what we’ve seen too much of lately. Drives that didn’t finish with touchdowns and decisions by the quarterback that could have been disastrous. It took a while for it to function the way they need it to but ultimately it did. The Cardinals will need that confidence moving forward; it’s been in short supply as of late.

For now though we’re in woulda/coulda/shoulda territory. Last week’s Seattle loss was so damaging. They’ll also need some help to amplify the stakes of their showdown against the Rams in two weeks. The whole season could come down to that game.

Tyler Drake, lead Cardinals writer and co-host of Cardinals Corner Podcast: Well a win is a win, but man, was that a weird one to start. Trey McBride can’t find the end zone for yet another game, but Jonah Williams did!? The Cardinals only had a 13-3 lead at the half?

But again, a win is a win.

The offense got it together in the second half and looked like its old self, but in my book, the defense deserves all the credit. Save for a few touchdown drives with the game out of reach, Arizona had all the answers to New England’s test, especially on third down.

It’s still a long uphill climb for a shot at the NFC West title, the only way to the postseason in my opinion. But for now, the Cardinals did what they should have — and had to do — to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.