FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – The New England Patriots played without their best defensive lineman, best linebacker and best defensive back.

They still held the Arizona Cardinals to 151 net yards of offense and seven first downs in a 30-3 preseason victory on Saturday night, just over a week after allowing 423 yards in a loss to Atlanta.

After giving up 196 rushing yards to the Falcons, the Patriots held Arizona to 55 yards on the ground.

The key, according to coach Bill Belichick, was consistency on defense.

“We did a little better than we did last week at times and that’s something we need to keep working on,” he said on Sunday. “We played a couple different fronts. We played a four-man front for a few plays, and that gave us a chance to get some experience to play a little in different configurations.”

The Patriots (1-1) also spoiled the pro debut of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart. But after leading the Cardinals (1-1) on their only scoring drive of the night – in which he scrambled for 29 yards – Leinart finished 4-of-11 for 45 yards and was sacked twice.

The absence of defensive lineman Richard Seymour, linebacker Tedy Bruschi (wrist) and safety Rodney Harrison (knee) opened the door for other players to step up. All the injured players are making progress, Belichick said.

“There are a lot of players that got real good opportunities last night, and some of those guys took advantage of those opportunities,” Belichick said.

On defense, linebacker Tully Banta-Cain led the team with three tackles, including a sack.

“Tully’s had a good camp and he’s shown up with some positive plays in practices and games, but there is still a lot of things he can work on,” Belichick said.

The Patriots also did not play veteran linebacker Junior Seau, who signed Friday after being released earlier in the week by the Dolphins. The 12-time Pro Bowl selection suited up but did not play because the team wanted him as involved as possible without getting on the field.

The Patriots also impressed on offense. Tom Brady played most of the first half and completed 15 of 20 passes for 149 yards.

Rookie Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals. Backup Matt Cassel completed 14-of-20 passes and threw two touchdown passes.

in the second half.

“At times I thought we were able to move the ball with consistency,” Belichick said. “We had some penalties and some either negative or no yardage running plays in the last two games, several of those in the red area that lessened our chances of getting the ball in the end zone and forced us to settle for field goals.”