Patriots at Cardinals: Highlights, score and recap

Despite facing a shorthanded New England Patriots side, the Arizona Cardinals lost their season opener 23-21 thanks to a late missed field goal and Tom Brady’s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo.

Coming off a disappointing loss in the 2016 NFC Championship game, the Arizona Cardinals looked to start their season off with a win at home against a New England Patriots team missing Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

Unfortunately for the Cards, a missed 47-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro with 41 seconds  left ensured an opening night victory for the Patriots, who were led by a promising performance from backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

In his first NFL start, Garoppolo threw for 264 yards and a touchdown, completing 24 of his 33 pass attempts and finishing with a quarterback rating of 106.1.

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The victory was extra sweet for the Patriots, who were not only missing Brady (four-game suspension) and Gronk (hamstring), but also defensive end Rob Ninkovich and two starters on the offensive line.

New England’s offense wasted no time in the team’s season opener, striking first with a 37-yard touchdown to Chris Hogan halfway through the first quarter. A 47-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski six minutes later gave the Pats a 10-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Arizona’s offense sputtered for most of the first half, with New England’s defensive backs doing a great job holding the Cardinals’ stellar receiving core in check — until Carson Palmer found Larry Fitzgerald for his 99th career touchdown on a three-yard score.

A strong eight-yard touchdown run from LeGarrett Blount capped off a five-minute Patriots drive to start the third quarter, putting the Pats up 17-7. Blount finished the game with 70 yards and the one touchdown. Running back David Johnson, who finished his night with 89 yards and one touchdown, pulled the Cards within three points on a one-yard run a few minutes later.

A 53-yard field goal from Gostkowski extended the Pats’ lead back to six early in the fourth quarter, but a beastly 45-yard run from David Johnson put Arizona in scoring range and they capitalized, taking a one-point lead on the 100th reception TD of Fitzgerald’s career.

Despite Fitzgerald’s terrific and historic grab, Garoppolo led New England back down the field, capping off a 61-yard, six-minute drive with a field goal to give the Patriots a 23-21 lead with 3:44 to play.

Arizona was able to march the ball down the field thanks to Fitzgerald’s heroic performance, but Catanzaro’s 47-yarder sailed wide left after a bad snap.

Three Stars

1. Jimmy Garoppolo: Could it be anyone else? Not only did Garoppolo lead the Pats to a victory in the first of their four games without Brady, but he did it on the road, against a Cardinals team that should be competing for the NFC crown…in his first career start. He didn’t throw a single interception, he completed nearly 73 percent of his passes, he threw for a touchdown and he brought his team down the field and into scoring range for what turned out to be the game-winning field goal. Not bad.
2. Larry Fitzgerald: Story of his career: On a night where Larry Fitzgerald was a beast among boys, caught his 100th career touchdown and carried his team’s offense down the stretch to finish with 81 yards and two touchdowns, his team still lost. Still, there’s no question his 100th score was one to remember, even before his unbelievable performance on the last drive that set up Catanzaro’s opportunity for the win.
3. David Johnson: It seems strange to include two players from the losing side here, but David Johnson was one of Arizona’s few silver linings in such a disappointing loss to a shorthanded Pats team. Johnson, a former third round pick from 2015, is making good on his potential and finished his night with one touchdown and 89 yards on 16 carries. He also had four receptions for 43 yards, while his 45-yard run and a couple of his shorter runs were the catalyst that injected life into Arizona’s offense in the second half.

Highlights

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Next Game

Coming off this confidence-building win, the Patriots return home to Foxborough for a game against the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins lost their Week 1 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, 12-10.

Next: 2016 NFL season: Record predictions for all 32 teams

The Cardinals, meanwhile, will look to bounce back in another home game against Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won their season debut against the Atlanta Falcons, 31-24.