I don’t know about you guys, but I always expected the Patriots to get out to an early lead against the Cardinals. I had full faith in Jimmy Garoppolo and the Rob Gronkowski-less offense to waltz down the field against the potent Arizona defense.
Sure.
The Cardinals won the coin toss and elected to receive in order to put the Patriots behind early, but the New England defense was strong and got the ball to Garoppolo.
Garoppolo went 4 of 5 for 75 yards and a touchdown pass, including this absolutely gorgeous throw to new wide receiver Chris Hogan.
Julian Edelman put the offense on his back for the opening drive with 38 yards on 3 catches, but Garoppolo seemed to find his rhythm.
Oh, and Garoppolo is doing this behind an offensive line of Cameron Fleming, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Ted Karras, and Marcus Cannon. Those are the 3rd and 4th string tackles, two rookies at guard, and a sophomore that was undrafted last year.
Let’s see if Garoppolo can keep it up.