{"id":7888,"date":"2016-09-09T11:31:07","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T15:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=7888"},"modified":"2016-09-09T11:31:07","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T15:31:07","slug":"three-patriots-players-watch-cardinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2016\/09\/09\/three-patriots-players-watch-cardinals\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Patriots Players to Watch Against the Cardinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Trio of Veterans Who\u2019ll Have to Step Up in Phoenix<\/h2>\n

The Patriots take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday Night Football and have their work cut out for themselves if they want to fly home with a victory. They\u2019ll be playing without key players Tom Brady, Dion Lewis, Rob Ninkovich and Sebastian Vollmer and they’ll be\u00a0facing an Arizona team that is primed for a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n

If they want to come out of Phoenix with a victory, they\u2019re going to need a total team effort. However there a few players who will have to step up and will no doubt play key roles in the Patriots game plan on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Here are our three players from a Patriots perspective to watch on Sunday Night:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Defensive End Chris Long:<\/strong> The veteran defensive end has had an impressive training camp and preseason after signing a one-year free agent deal coming\u00a0from the Rams this spring. And with Rob Ninkovich out for the first month of the season, he\u2019ll be looked to for veteran leadership and production.<\/p>\n

\"long-slater\"<\/p>\n

Long is finally healthy after two injury-plagued years\u00a0and found there was little call for his services this spring. He knows the Cardinals well, having faced them twice a year for his entire career in the NFC West. He\u2019s had some good games against Arizona in the past and he knows Carson Palmer isn\u2019t the most mobile of QBs.<\/p>\n

Long has got his quickness back and has exhibited a nice spin move in the pass rushing department this summer. And facing running back David Johnson, he\u2019s being looked to set the edge in the running game. That is something he\u2019s been very good at doing thus far and it will be of even greater importance on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Under the bright lights of a nationally televised game, Long is wanting to show that\u2019s he\u2019s healthy and ready to contribute in a big way again. We haven\u2019t heard much from him this week. Expect that to change on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Tight End Rob Gronkowski:<\/strong> The big man has been hurting since pulling up lame in a joint practice with the Chicago Bears. Yelling in pain that was audible across the practice field, his hamstring still, admittedly isn\u2019t 100 percent. He spoke with the media on Thursday and stated that he wasn\u2019t even sure that he was going to play on Sunday. It is probably going to be a last minute decision, depending on how well he can run during the early warmups in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\"Rob

Rob Gronkowski is a force multiplier for the Patriots offense.<\/p><\/div>\n

Other than Brady, no one is more indispensable to the team\u2019s success than Gronk. He possesses a skill set like no other tight end in the NFL. He\u2019s what we used to refer to Special Forces, a \u201cforce multiplier\u201d. When he\u2019s on the field, the opposition has to put so many resources designed just to stop him, that it increases the productivity of the remaining players on the field. And even then, he\u2019s still difficult to stop.<\/p>\n

I expect Gronk to play some against the Cardinals. And when he\u2019s on the field he can be a difference-maker, 100 percent or not. His presence will be one of a calming influence on Garoppolo, knowing that he\u2019ll either stay in to block or attack the secondary down the seams. As many know, Brady has used Gronkowski split wide to get a pre-snap read on if the defense is in zone or man coverage, depending upon who lines up opposite him. That is a small but important factor that may help the young quarterback going thru his baptism of fire on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Wide Receiver Chris Hogan:<\/strong> The free agent signee from the Bills has had a relatively quiet but nevertheless impressive spring and summer with the Patriots. Never having a defined role and always looked to be replaced in Buffalo, he\u2019s worked hard and has seamlessly integrated into the Patriots offense. He rapidly gained the all-important trust factor with QBs Tom Brady and Jimmy Garroppolo.<\/p>\n

\"Chris

Chris Hogan has looked very impressive all summer.<\/p><\/div>\n

With Gronkowski and Julian Edelman always bearing the brunt of the defense\u2019s attention, it will be up to the others in the offense, like Hogan, Martellus Bennett, and James White to step up and make their presence felt.<\/p>\n

Hogan should be facing single coverage on Sunday night. With the Cardinals looking to be aggressive against Garoppolo in his first NFL start, Hogan may be the safety valve that the Patriots need to keep the chains moving and giving Jimmy G. the easier throws he will need to get into a rhythm. Hogan is my choice for the Patriots player to have a big night offensively. Like Chris Long, he\u2019s wanting to show on a national stage that he too just needed another opportunity to shine.<\/p>\n

Honorable Mentions: D.J. Foster, Dont’a Hightower and Barkevious Mingo<\/p>\n

Follow me on Twitter\u00a0<\/em>@SteveB7SFG<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or email me at\u00a0<\/em>stevebpatsfans@gmail.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to our\u00a0<\/em>Patriots 4th<\/sup>\u00a0and 2<\/em><\/a>\u00a0podcasts on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and I from\u00a0<\/em>PatsFans.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0discuss the latest Patriots news Wednesdays at 12 noon.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They’ll need a total team effort, however there a few players who will have to step up and will no doubt play key roles in the Patriots game plan on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[800,34,599,929,18,204,154,16,14,17,24,15,44,70,38,117,13],"class_list":["post-7888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-commentary","category-patriots-news","tag-2016-patriots-season","tag-bill-belichick","tag-chris-hogan","tag-chris-long","tag-danny-amendola","tag-dion-lewis","tag-donta-hightower","tag-jabaal-sheard","tag-jimmy-garoppolo","tag-julian-edelman","tag-lagarrette-blount","tag-malcolm-butler","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriots-edge-rushers","tag-rob-gronkowski","tag-tom-brady"],"yoast_head":"\nThree 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