Two years ago, the Patriots’ offense sputtered in the playoffs against the Jets after Aaron Hernandez was lost to injury, leaving Darrelle Revis to blanket Wes Welker and rendering the Patriots’ offense hopeless. The smooth-striding, athletic big man is a key matchup piece in Josh McDaniels’ offense, serving as the main vertical threat to open up the underneath passing game and force defenses to play honest and respect the deep strike.

After Hernandez’s ankle was rolled by teammate Julian Edelman midway through the first quarter, the Patriots’ offense grew conservative, relying more on RB Stevan Ridley, a physical, grinding back. It was something the Pats were able to do heavily in the season opener after taking a lead against Tennessee. However, it allowed a Cardinals team that was expected to lose by two TDs to match up much better defensively.

Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett controlled the line of scrimmage, giving Patriots ORG Donald Thomas fits, and an inspired group of young linebackers led by ultra-instinctive, speedy LB Daryl Washington, aggressively made their presence felt behind the line of scrimmage. Where the Cardinals’ underrated defense benefited most was in the secondary, as CBs Patrick Peterson, William Gay and rookie Jamell Fleming were not faced with the same explosive threat and were able to handle matching up with Rob Gronkowski, Welker and Brandon Lloyd.