Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo of the New England Patriots sets up a play against the Arizona Cardinals during the NFL game at University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona. New England won 23-21. (Photo : Getty Images/ Ethan Miller)
Jimmy Garoppolo managed to do just what Tom Brady always does. He led the New England Patriotsto a late score and victory. But the Patriots needed a little help.
On Sunday night during the season opener, Arizona's Chandler Catanzaro made a miss of a 47-yard field goal with 41 seconds left to play and the severely depleted Patriots escaped with a 23-21 victory NFL reported.
Coach Bruce Arians defended Cardinals by saying that they should have won the game as poorly as the team played.
The snap from Kameron Canady, a long snapper, was low and holder Drew Butler did not get the ball in terrific position. However, Catanzaro was making no excuses saying, "Just an old-way miss". He added he will be making the next one.
Arians accepted the challenge and said it was a low snap though Drew got it down, Catanzaro pulled it.
Garoppolo in his first NFL start had directed the Patriots from their own 19 to the Arizona 15, setting up Stephen Gostkowski's 23-yard field goal for what ended to be the winner with 3:44 to play.
Garoppolo who never seemed rattled completed 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards with no interceptions. He said if one believes in his teammates and they also have confidence in you, it is easy to stay poised. Bill Bilichick, the coach was not ready to crown Garoppolo the next Brady, though.
Bilichick said that he made some good plays though not perfect, he made a lot of good plays.
Arizona's Carson Palmer threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns, all to Larry Fitzgerald.
"We came out too slow," Palmer noted, "and obviously there when you must win it with a late field goal, you are obviously behind the 8-ball."
Not only were the Patriots without Brady who uspended for his role in "deflategate," but they also missed tight end Rob Gronkowski, defensive end Rob Ninkovich and two other starters on the offensive line, ABC Newsreported.
Garoppolo talked about that Patriot confidence once again consoling the outsiders and noted they do believe in themselves. He said, "that is a good thing we have going for us."
With only 9:46 remaining,Cardinals night lead of 21-20 got a memorable 45-yard run by David Johnson set up a 2-yard, sliding, over-the-shoulder touchdown catch by Fitzgerald.
Ex-Patriot Chandler Jones sacked Garoppolo during his first play of New England's next possession, but the quarterback still set up the winning kick by Gostkowski, who also booted a 53-yarder.
Belichick said he was really proud of their team tonight adding that he thought they got great effort from all three phases and did well in the game.
A holding penalty hindered the final Arizona drive but a pass to Jaron Brown placed the Cardinals within field-goal range. The snap was low making Catanzaro boot the ball to the left of the uprights.
New England, a five-point underdog, enjoyed the lead on its first possession and scored again while starting the second half.
Up 10-7 at the break, the Patriots took the second-half kickoff and in nine plays, they had went 70 yards. Rookie cornerback Brandon Williams was beaten seriously for the second time on Garoppolo's 28-yard nice pass to the Arizona 8. LaGarrette Blount bulled it in from there and with 10 minutes left in the first quarter, the Patriots led 17-7.
The New England turnovers were followed by the first two Arizona touchdowns.
Johnson's remarkable run featured about every tool in the running back kit. His jump cut into the line, spun away from a would-be tackler, placed his hand on the ground to steady his balance and stiff-armed another defender before runing down the sidelines. The end was a pretty over-the-shoulder catch by Fitzgerald, the 100th TD reception of his career.
Johnson made fun saying that he thought he was going to take it to the house. "I did not see the guy behind me. Hopefully it was a defensive lineman and not a linebacker."
Garoppolo had a fast start, overthrowing the receiver on his pass then completing four straight for 75 yards. He took advantage of Williams' blown coverage to throw to a wide open Chris Hogan for 37 yards and a touchdown.
On their second possession, the Patriots drove to the Arizona 29 from their 8 and Gostkowski's 47-yard field goal made it 10-0.
The only turnover of the first half led to Arizona's lone first-half point. Garoppolo took a hit from Markus Golden and fumbled. Jones, acquired in an offseason exchange with New England, recovered for Arizona at the New England 40.
A celebration dance by D.J. Swearinger and Jones drew a 15-yard penalty after the turnover, but the Cardinals still drove for a score.
Palmer threw 2 yards to Fitzgerald cutting the lead to 10-7 with 6:20 left in the first half.
Well done to Catanzaro, the Patriots are now 36-1 in their last 37 games when leading by three or more points entering the fourth quarter, per NFL Research.
The Sunday night thriller was the sixth game this weekend to be decided by two points or less.
Here is a video of Jimmy Garoppolo winning in his first NFL and Patriots quarterback:
