The team went in there and looked like they were focused and prepared. Let’s play some football.
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Drew Butler struggled in the punting game, averaging only 36 yards on five punts.
Garoppolo completed 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards and touchdown. I’ll attribute it to nerves. “I thought it was a great night for him and our whole offense”. There was still some uncertainty over Garopollo as the Patriots’ quarterback. Can’t you just see Belichick retiring in the middle of March one year, without warning, and without a farewell press conference?
All in all, I was very pleased with Garoppolo in the first half. I think they can and there’s never a reason to doubt the Patriots, but this was an emotionally powerful game.
Is Tom Brady jealous of Jimmy Garoppolo? Besides one fumble, which even the best quarterbacks do from time to time, he looked poised in the pocket and made some good throws. Andre Ellington is awful at it. Fans can only hope for touchbacks so the team can at least start at the 25-yard line.
And came away 23-21 winners.
Finally, Riggle comes in: “Jimmy Garoppolo”. Their first look at Garoppolo is in the books, but it will not be their last. Especially on the 3rd and 15 where he scrambled to connect with Amendola for a 32 yard gain.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Mike Nugent kicked a 47-yard field goal with 54 seconds left, lifting the Bengals over the Jets.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score to Victor Cruz in his first game in almost two years, and the Giants beat the Cowboys. Who knows. Would my stress level have been lower if Brady was under center? The cards really were stacked against New England (no pun intended), but come on, it’s the Patriots. Expect the Patriots to be just as great all season long. “If he’s going to play, he needs to play better or he shouldn’t play”. To top it off, Fitzgerald was putting on a clinic against Logan Ryan.
The Patriots third-year QB showed poise and confidence when pressured.
Okay, probably not. But, if you can believe it, said parody happened.
Garoppolo’s performance Sunday night can not be understated. That’s what I saw in the game. Still, Garoppolo didn’t seem to mind the jump to meaningful action.
“We got to regroup”, he said. His “technique” includes chasing down receivers and attempting to hit the ball out of their hands.
But seriously, Garoppolo should be extremely proud of his effort in his first National Football League start. Despite our weaknesses in the secondary, the strong linebacker corps coupled with generally steady pressure from the front 7 kept the Cardinals offense contained for the most part.
Meanwhile, Brady’s seemingly nowhere near retiring. This isn’t a Bledsoe goes down Brady takes over situation.
“Not when you’re playing a back-up quarterback and they’re missing some playmakers and it’s a game at home”, he said. Keim said Arizona felt “pretty strongly” about the defensive plan Arizona had in place but the Cardinals “just didn’t execute”. And people are talking about the Cardinals being the most explosive offense in the National Football League… we will see. The next time the pressure is on will he choke again?
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Arizona’s running back David Johnson was very effective against the Pats, and while he was held under 100 yards that stat is deceiving. “He saw a couple of good opportunities to run”. Seven if you count a ball tipped at the line that he caught himself and was able to turn into a 3-yard gain. 70 yards on 22 attemps with 1TD isn’t a handsome stat line and yet it still makes his performance look better than it actually was.
