TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Not that they need it, but the New England Patriots have more going for them than superior talent this weekend against Arizona.

They have three extra days to prepare after opening with a Thursday night victory at home over Indianapolis. And they have a bye to rest up after a sweaty weekend in the desert.

“That really just assured me the sense of humor the NFL has in their schedule,” Arizona coach Dennis Green said.

Even the weather gods are smiling on New England. Weeks of triple-digit heat are expected to give way to a cooling trend, with the high forecast in the low to mid 90s for Sunday.

“We need it to be about 110,” the Cardinals’ Emmitt Smith said.

The Patriots came to Phoenix on Thursday for some extra time to prepare for what still will be warm conditions. The defending Super Bowl champions leave little to chance. That’s one reason they have won 16 games in a row, two shy of the NFL record.

“They’ve got great players all the way around,” Smith said. “Great corners, great linebackers, great defensive linemen, a great head coach, great offense, great wide receivers, great schemes, super fans I guess. What else can I say? They’re superb.”

Coach Bill Belichick, though, will have none of the talk of winning streaks or Super Bowl triumphs.

“There’s no championship team. There’s been one game played this year, and that’s it,” he said. “And so nobody’s won anything. Nobody’s done anything. Everybody’s got a long, long way to go and a lot of football left to play.”

The Cardinals will be playing their home opener under new coach Dennis Green, and are coming off a competitive, but losing, effort at St. Louis, where they were beaten 17-10 after leading 10-9 early in the fourth quarter.

Green appears to be making progress in changing the attitude of players in the perpetually losing Arizona franchise. Just listen to rookie defensive tackle Darnell Dockett talk about the Patriots.

“I’m a professional player. This is what I get paid to do,” he said. “I’m not overwhelmed by all their Super Bowls and all that. I just want to go out there and play, and find out if they’re really that good.”

Rushing defense was a sore spot for New England in its opener, with Edgerrin James gaining 142 yards for the Colts in a 27-24 Patriots’ victory that wasn’t assured until Indianapolis’ Mike Vanderjagt missed a 48-yard field goal with 24 seconds to play.

Only Clinton Portis gained more than 100 yards against New England last season.

“If it gets better, maybe it will be an aberration,” the Patriots’ coach said. “If it doesn’t, then we’ll say that’s a huge problem. We won’t know until Sunday where it is.”

Green, 3-0 lifetime against Belichick-coached teams, believes there’s an obvious reason for the run defense problems.

“They miss Ted Washington,” Green said of the big nose tackle who signed with Oakland. “In a league of big players, then there are giant players. Ted Washington is about as big as they get.”

Smith, the NFL’s career rushing leader, gained 87 yards in 16 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown, against the Rams, his best game since coming to Arizona.

“It means the line did a good job of opening up some running lanes and I was able to take advantage of some of those running lanes,” Smith said. “But that was then. We’ve got a new week. That’s the unique thing about football. Every week is a different week.”

The Patriots are known for a dizzying array of defensive looks, something they are sure to employ to try to confuse quarterback Josh McCown, who will be making just his fifth NFL start.

“We can’t get focused on the fact that they’ve won that many games and let it bring us down,” McCown said. “It’s a game for us where we have an opportunity. We get an opportunity to be the team that knocks them off.”

In a halftime ceremony, the Cardinals will retire the No. 40 jersey of the late Pat Tillman, the former Arizona safety who died in combat in Afghanistan. Tillman left a lucrative NFL career to join the Army Rangers, and every player in the league is wearing No. 40 on his helmet.

“I think it’s really neat,” New England’s Tom Brady said. “”You pay tribute to people you look up to and you respect and admire, when you think about what he has done, compared to what we are doing playing football and how little in actual important it is what we are doing.”

AP-ES-09-16-04 1748EDT