James Conner rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns Sunday as the Arizona Cardinals stayed in the NFC West race with a 30-17 win over the New England Patriots in Glendale, Ariz.
Conner blew it open in the fourth quarter with a pair of 1-yard scores as Arizona (7-7) snapped a three-game losing streak. Quarterback Kyler Murray completed 23 of 30 passes for 224 yards as the Cardinals outgained New England 395-311.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye hit 19 of 23 passes for 202 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Patriots, who fell to 3-11. Rhamondre Stevenson led their rushing attack with 69 yards on 13 attempts.
Arizona is 1 1/2 games behind Seattle, pending the outcome of the Seahawks’ game against Green Bay on Sunday night. The Cardinals lost both games to the Seahawks this season, so they lose any tiebreaker for the division title.
Arizona established a 10-0 lead in the first quarter as former New England kicker Chad Ryland hit the first of his three field goals, a 49-yarder, at the 7:13 mark. Then Jonah Williams recovered Greg Dortch’s fumble in the end zone with 1:21 remaining in the period.
Joey Slye nailed a 50-yard field goal with 2:01 left in the first half to get the Patriots on the board, but Ryland answered by hitting a 35-yard attempt with 16 seconds remaining for a 13-3 lead at the break.
Ryland made it 16-3 with a 40-yard field goal at the 9:07 mark of the third quarter, capping a drive that ate nearly six minutes of clock. The first of Conner’s touchdown runs came with 10:39 left in the game for a three-score lead.
New England got into the end zone on its next possession via Maye’s 3-yard scoring strike to DeMario Douglas with 8:14 remaining. But Conner sealed the outcome on his second touchdown run with 3:27 on the clock.
Maye capped the scoring with a 5-yard run at the 1:55 mark, capping a 70-yard drive.