What Palmer said wasn’t exactly the worst thing in the world, but many Patriots fans took it as Palmer throwing shade in Brady’s direction.
Advertisement
The Patriots were without not only Brady but tight end Rob Gronkowski and defensive end Rob Ninkovich, yet their replacements did just enough to secure victory.
But the Patriots needed a little help.
“We should have won the game”, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. Hey, I may have picked the Cardinals to win even if Brady was playing, I doubt it, but maybe. The snap was low and Catanzaro booted the ball to the left of the uprights. I’ll make the next one. Butler mishandled it initially, but recovered well to get the ball down for Catanzaro, but the timing was off by a split-second and the kick sailed left.
The confidence is also high for a franchise that continues to have lots of regular-season success in the rare times Brady hasn’t been the starting quarterback. He never seemed rattled. I suspect he has plenty to say about managing an organization, understanding human nature, and providing leadership. AND coach Bill Belichick bestowed the game ball on Garoppolo after the win.
Probably the ugliest play of the entire game on defense was the opening drive touchdown.
Last night during the Patriots game against the Cardinals, you may have noticed a certain stand-in quarterback’s old tweets circulating around the good ol’ interwebs as various people dug through his archives and retweeted his thoughts.
According to ESPN’s preseason Football Power Index, the Patriots were expected to win 9.8 games, “about 0.4 fewer games than if Brady was available from the start” per ESPN’s Sharon Katz.
“We got to regroup”, he said. But I know Im going to step up when the team needs me next..
A remarkable 45-yard run by David Johnson set up a 2-yard, sliding, over-the-shoulder touchdown catch by Fitzgerald that gave the Cardinals their only lead of the night, 21-20, with 9:46 remaining. While speaking with the New England media, Palmer suggested that Brady got what he deserved when the National Football League suspended him for four games following the Deflategate scandal.
“I don’t think anything really changed”, McDaniels said on a conference call Tuesday.
The good news though is that particular statistic is likely to correct itself, and the Cardinals defense looked great in other areas, with the exception of one area: cornerback opposite Patrick Peterson. I’m not going to tell him anything on game day. It’s been a while since the Patriots had a quarterback with some open-field shimmy.
He jump cut into the line, spun away from a would-be tackler, put his hand on the ground to steady his balance and stiff-armed another defender before racing down the sidelines. Larry Fitzgerald too looked in midseason form, leading the Cards with eight catches and two scores, reaching 100 for his storied career. “I’ve seen it time and time again”. Yes, the eras were completely different, with Garoppolo making his start in 2016 and Brady in 2001, but number-wise, the Eastern alum did better.
Advertisement
Oakland had to overcome a 14-point second-half deficit and a 424-yard, four-touchdown performance by Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Poking fun at Garoppolo’s unlikely rise to a starting gig in the aftermath of Deflategate, the clip is filled with lyrical gems performed in the style of the Broadway show’s hit tune “Alexander Hamilton”. Jones, acquired in an offseason trade with New England, recovered for Arizona at the New England 40.
