The third-year backup filled in for the opener with Tom Brady exiled to his four-game Deflategate suspension and, despite having to play without his top playmaker in tight end Rob Gronkowski (hamstring) and left tackle Nate Solder (hamstring), Garoppolo was the latest example of the next-man-up mantra that Bill Belichick’s troops have lived by over the years. “I’m happy he went out there, did it, and everyone can shut up now and watch the guy get better and grow and us keep improving as a team in the early part of the season”.
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“It’s fun to watch them and support them, and even if I’m not out there, I’m with them in spirit, and I’m just hoping and cheering like all those Patriots fans that we win every game we play”.
“Steve did a great job (Sunday) night at putting the ball in play and forcing them to return and then that gave us a chance to cover the way that we did”, special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “Got ourselves behind the chains there but yeah I thought we hit a couple really good spurts”.
Quarterback Carson Palmer was decent, completing 24-of-37 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns – both to Larry Fitzgerald, who visited the end zone for the 100th time in his career with a circus catch on a 1-yard toss from Palmer in the fourth quarter. Outside of Johnson’s 45-yard run, Arizona mustered only three other plays of 20-plus yards, all passes. We beat a good team on the road.
Brown caught just one pass for eight yards but was targeted four times. It is absolutely incredible to watch and be a fan of this team. “It was a great way to start the season for our team”. Hey, I may have picked the Cardinals to win even if Brady was playing, I doubt it, but maybe. In his biggest miscue, he was strip-sacked in the second quarter, which led to the Cardinals’ first touchdown. “We got great effort in all three phases”.
“It went in spurts, you know, we had it going for a little bit, nothing sustained”, Fitzgerald said. They played well in so many areas. An unexpected loss to an undermanned team you could face again come February on the opening night of the year reminds everyone that reading your own press clippings and buying into them can turn into any team’s Achilles heel no matter how great. “This is the year and I want to make sure it’s a great one”. As poorly as we played, we still should have won. With Gostkowski kicking the ball to the 3, Nate Ebner brought Andre Ellington down at the 17 and the Cardinals were forced to start their final possession of the game at their 8 when Tyvon Branch was flagged for holding.
It’s not a bad gig he has in New England with Brady as a mentor and being on one of the best franchises in the National Football League, always making noise throughout the season. “But I know I’m going to step up when the team needs me next”.
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The New Orleans defense has been bad for the last handful of seasons and losing it’s best player in the secondary will certainly not help.
