The Patriots came out ready to play Sunday and take a 10-7 lead into half time over the Cardinals.
Advertisement
Fitzgerald extended his NFL-record streak to 180 games with a catch on a grab on Arizona’s opening drive and kept snaring balls from Carson Palmer.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo did just fine in his debut as the interim starter, leading the Patriots to a 23-21 win on the road over the Cardinals.
It appears Jimmy Garoppolo has been a good study.
Down 21-20 in the fourth quarter, Garoppolo engineered a 13-play, 61-yard drive that ended in a 32-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal with less than four minutes left in the contest.
“You don’t ever want anybody to start feeling comfortable, start feeling bigger than they are just because a bunch of people are saying we’re picked to win the Super Bowl or whatever”, Mathis told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Off the Edge with B-Train.
Arizona was able to march the ball down the field thanks to Fitzgerald’s heroic performance, but Catanzaro’s 47-yarder sailed wide left after a bad snap.
“It”s on me,” Catanzaro said.
“I had this one circled with a red marker”, Jones said. The kick return game “was terrible”, Arians said.
The miss came after Garoppolo, in his first National Football League start, directed the Patriots from their own 19 to the Arizona 15 to set up Stephen Gostkowski’s 23-yard field goal for what proved to be the victor with 3:44 to play. He expected him to complete something like 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards and get the Patriots in and out of plays with military precision. He never seemed rattled. “When they have confidence in you (and) you confidence in them, it’s easy to stay poised out there”. It doesn’t give credit to an offensive line that had Patriots fans rolling eyes during starting introductions, only to watch a competent unit roll out thanks to old coach/new coach Dante Scarnecchia.
Said Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians, whose team was favored by six points: “Obviously a very disappointing loss”.
Arizona had a shot in the closing minutes, moving into position for a potential game-winning field goal. Garoppolo’s play, especially his ability to limit mistakes, will be essential to a Patriots victory. Some things went not so well for the Cardinals.
“I mean, I’m really, really concerned about the story line”, Belichick said with obvious sarcasm”. “I thought we got great effort from all three phases. We played a good complimentary game”. The snap was low and Catanzaro booted the ball to the left of the uprights. The Carolina offense was so effectively shut down that they only managed to score three points through the entire second half.
The Patriots took a 10-7 lead into the locker room at the half. Rookie cornerback Brandon Williams was beaten badly for the second time on Garoppolo’s 28-yard pass to the Arizona 8.
Running back LeGarrette Blount dragged the entire Cardinals defense into the end zone to help get the Patriots a 17-7 lead.
On Arizona’s next possession, Carson Palmer drove the Cardinals to the New England 29 yard line.
Running back David Johnson responded well in his first game as the starting running back. That set up a pretty over-the-shoulder catch by Fitzgerald, the 100th TD reception of his career.
New England is one season removed from a Super Bowl victory, but now has to get through the first four games of 2016 without franchise quarterback Tom Brady, who has been suspended. Garoppolo settled down nearly immediately, though, completing each of his next four passes for 75 yards, which included a 37-yarder to Hogan down the left sideline for a touchdown.
For those keeping track, both of the Cardinals scores came on short fields after turnovers. Markus Golden strip-sacked Garoppolo and Jones, the former Patriot, recovered the fumble.
Advertisement
Detroit’s Matt Prater redeemed himself for a fourth-quarter field goal miss by hitting a 43-yard kick with 8 seconds to give the Lions a 39-35 victory at Indianapolis.
