The fans in us are just excited for the potential win, but as analyst and people who love to drive a narrative, no Tom Brady sucks.
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The NFL season may have kicked off with the Super Bowl rematch Thursday night, but you could argue that Patriots-Cardinals Sunday night qualifies as an obscenely early “Super Bowl Preview”.
One thing that will likely change in this offense while Garoppolo is under center is that New England will likely design more plays with quarterback movement.
Jimmy Garoppolo, starting in place of suspended Tom Brady, threw for 264 yards and a touchdown, leading the severely depleted New England Patriots to a 23-21 victory over the favored Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night.
Garoppolo got off to a fast start, overthrowing the receiver on his first pass then completing four straight for 75 yards. Most telling: On third down, Garoppolo went 8 for 10 for 107 yards and seven first downs.
When Garoppolo does get the opportunity to push the ball downfield, he has the arm strength to do so.
Gronkowski is dealing with a hamstring issue as is Solder, while Cooper remained in Boston with a foot problem. The team confirmed Friday night that Gronkowski had been downgraded from questionable to out for the game.
Arizona has turned to former Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones, who is now an outside linebacker with the Cardinals, for any advice on Garoppolo.
MORE: Will Rob Gronkowski suit up against the Cardinals? Arizona defensive coordinator James Boettcher called him “the best in the game right now at tight end”‘.
Arians also said Garoppolo reminded him of Tony Romo when he was entering the NFL Draft, pointing to his skill set in particular.
“Very athletic, very accurate”, Arians said. He doesn’t get the ball out of his hands almost as quickly, and it’s not almost as accurate. This Arizona team knows how to capitalize on opponents mistakes (2nd in total turnovers in 2015). Pittsburgh third-stringer Landry Jones rallied the Steelers to a victory over Arizona past year.
Quarterback Carson Palmer and the offense had a less than spectacular preseason. If the team wants to win, they need to establish the run, which in turn will open up the passing game through play action. “. They’ve put together a good football team with good talent”. “Having been in the system, in that system especially, for the number of years he’s been there, he’s watched Josh [McDaniels] come up with game plans and understands what they’re trying to do”. “They are hard to prepare for”. They could pull that off, but Belichick will nearly certainly make sure that if the Patriots get beat up front, Jones won’t be the guy to do it. They’ll play their next three games, all without Brady, at home. “You spend so much time with the guy that you pick up little things that he does that you find helpful and you put it towards your own game”.
FAMILIAR FOE: The Patriots certainly will recognize one of the players they face. Quarterback Carson Palmer and all the key players on offense return on a team that led the National Football League with 408.3 yards per game and bolstered its pass rush by acquiring Pro Bowl defensive end Chandler Jones from New England in the offseason.
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Bolstering the pass rush was Arizona general manager Steve Keim’s No. 1 objective.
