Rob Gronkowski was unavailable and Tom Brady, for those living under a rock for the past year, was serving the first game in his four-game suspension for Deflategate. The Patriots won 23-21.
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Team captain Matt Slater said preparation played a big role in the Patriots adjusting with key players sidelined Sunday. “I don’t even have words to express what this probably means to the whole team”.
After the game, Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians told reporters that his team “didn’t really play well enough” in any aspect of the game to beat the Patriots. The drive culminated in Garoppolo finding Chris Hogan for a 37-yard touchdown.
Cam Newton, who took several hard hits in that game, is expected to play in the Panthers’ home opener against the 49ers.
But much like their Super Bowl win here two years ago against Seattle, the Patriots walked off the field with a win after a miscue, as Chandler Catanzaro’s field goal attempt from 47 yards out sailed wide left with 41 seconds to play. The last team to make the Super Bowl after an 0-2 start, for what it’s worth, was the 2007 New York Giants. “There were times we needed to be more consistent on that, but that’s everybody, the offense, the defense”, Belichick said. “I wish I could take it back but I can’t”.
Katz also noted the Patriots had an “average projection of 2.3 wins with Garoppolo under center”, and you’d have to think that Week 1 against Arizona, who won the NFC West last season after finishing with the No. 3 highest overall efficiency rating per Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, was one of their toughest games on the slate. I don’t know how it’s similar or different, but it’s definitely a little different.
Fitzgerald lit up the highlight reels with an over-the-shoulder 1-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter for his 100th TD reception. Danny Amendola had three catches, including a 32-yarder.
“That is all on you guys”, Edelman said after the game. “I didn’t see the guy behind me”.
Garappolo completed 24 of his 33 passes with no interceptions, while Arizona’s Carson Palmer threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns, both to Larry Fitzgerald. Outside of a 3rd quarter fumble Sunday night, Blount had a good game to help balance out the offense with 70 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. That moved him into a tie with Steve Largent and Tim Brown for eighth all-time, four behind Antonio Gates for seventh.
On Sunday morning, NFL Network reported that Fitzgerald was telling people close to him that he was retiring after the season.
Keim said Arizona felt “pretty strongly” about the defensive plan Arizona had in place but the Cardinals “just didn’t execute”. I don’t want to get in trouble.
On that 45-yard run, Johnson spun away from tacklers at the line of scrimmage, put his hand on the ground to steady himself, then stiff-armed a defender before racing down the field.
But, as Fitzgerald said, he believes in what the Cardinals can accomplish.
David Johnson had a decent game after a slow start.
Trailing 21-20 midway through the fourth quarter, Garoppolo engineered a 7-play, 79-yard march that included plays befitting a wily veteran.
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He was asked his thoughts on Garoppolo being the story line for Monday and whether he was minimizing the young quarterback’s play. Bill Belichick put on a coaching clinic in Glendale, where the heavily favored Cardinals fell short with a missed field goal as time expired.
