But that good problem is going to very quickly turn into a headache when the Patriots have to decide between Brady and Garoppolo – and that’s coming much sooner than most realize. New England is the only AFC East team to win its opener.
Advertisement
That’s the boat the Arizona Cardinals are in following a disappointing 23-21 loss to the New England Patriots Sunday night at University of Phoenix Stadium. As poorly as we played, we still should have won. But Catanzaro was making no excuses. This is the year and I want to make sure its a great one..
“It was a low snap, Drew got it down and [Catanzaro] pulled it”.
The big question for these four games without Brady is whether or not Garoppolo can handle being the Patriots starting quarterback, after looking at his first game, yes he can. He never seemed rattled.
Cue Riggle, as a wide-eyed Garoppolo clutching his Pats clipboard as he ventures down the stairs to remind everyone of his name: “I’ve waited all my life for this, does anyone know where my helmet is?” But even if New England loses to Houston, there is still a good chance the Patriots go 3-1, with Brady returning in time to face the Cleveland Browns in Week 5. “It makes it a lot easier on us when you have good coaches like that”. He connected for both short and long passes, and even attempted taking the ball for a first down himself at one point.
New York’s Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score to Victor Cruz in his first game in almost two years, as the Giants edged Dallas 20-19. Sunday isn’t the first time and won’t be the last time the Cardinals let us down.
“We had it going a little bit, but nothing sustained”, Fitzgerald said.
Team captain Matt Slater said preparation played a big role in the Patriots adjusting with key players sidelined Sunday. We beat a good team on the road.
The game ended with Dallas in position for a roughly 57-yard field goal, but Terrance Williams didn’t get out of bounds after a catch and the clock ran out. With the ball inside the two-yard line, Fitzgerald went out for a quick fade in the back left corner.
If you didn’t know it was his first career start in the National Football League, it would not have been very obvious that it was.
Garoppolo stepped up and delivered a dart for a 32-yard gain that put the Patriots in Arizona territory. Nobody is stopping New England this year. “I wish I could take it back but I can’t”. The next time the pressure is on will he choke again? Hopefully it was a defensive lineman and not a linebacker.
It was just Fleming’s third career start at left tackle, but the lateness of the Solder scratch combined with the fact Fleming would be matched against pass-rushers Calais Campbell and Chandler Jones made the prospects of Garoppolo staying upright for most of the game slim. In the first quarter, he connected with wide receiver Chris Hogan for a 37 yard touchdown pass. After Arizona had taken a 21-20 lead, he directed a 13-play, 61-yard drive that ended with Stephen Gostkowski’s 32-yard field goal that proved to be the game victor with 3:44 to play.
Advertisement
The only turnover of the first half led to Arizona’s lone first-half score.
