Tyler and I talk about the game, what happened and where the team needs to go from here to get back on the right track. We beat a good team on the road. “There was no doubt in this locker room that Jimmy could go out there and play”.
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Sunday Night Football, the biggest game of the day on Sundays. While the 2014 second-round pick missed an open receiver on his first throw of the night, he completed four of his five throws on a 74-yard opening scoring drive that concluded with a pretty 37-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Chris Hogan.
It was a drive in which Garoppolo – who was 24-33 for 264 yards and a TD in the win – was not only cool, calm and collected but, he took advantage of Arizona’s defensive mistakes either via penalty or coverage lapses.
That play loomed especially large when the Cardinals drove for a potential game-winning field goal only to have Chandler Catanzaro miss wide left (following a low snap from Kameron Canaday ) from 47 yards away.
Brady was missing due to his part in the “Deflategate” scandal, in which the Patriots were found to have tampered with the inflation of footballs in a playoff game. “That’s on me. This game falls on my shoulders”. Whether it’s little league, college, here. I expect Bishop Sankey to get the nod from the practice squad by week 3.
The return of Patriots football with a prime time match up against an early NFC favorite, doesn’t get much better than that! Others may look at the Patriots’ defense and how they played against one of the top offenses in the NFL. Still, Garoppolo didn’t seem to mind the jump to meaningful action. “A lot of times, you don’t get to see those things until after when you watch it on film”. I don’t know if there has been another team in history that could do it as well as the Patriots. Even if Garoppolo goes out and rolls the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans – possible because only the Texans are truly good and none of them are as good as Arizona’s defense. Everybody on this team is confident in him.
The Cardinals were expected to be the toughest opponent New England would face in the absence of Brady, who is serving a four-game suspension.
With the win, the New England Patriots are now 2-1 at the University of Phoenix Stadium, with that one loss coming in the 17-14 heartbreaker that was Super Bowl XLII.
“It was a good feeling, it really was”.
Not only did both the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints drop their games to the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders in heartbreaking fashion, they also lost key contributors for the season. The Cardinals will live to see many better days this season.
“Just having confidence in your teammates”, Garoppolo said.
“I thought he made some critical plays for us, there’s no question about it”, said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels Tuesday morning.
It’s not the ideal way to start the season but it could just be the Draymond Green-ing the doctor order.
“I would buy Jimmy G gear absolutely”.
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The Cardinals had a chance to win it, driving to the Patriots’ 29-yard line in the final minute of play.
