The New England Patriots were rightfully amped about beating the Arizona Cardinals in Arizona. No one really gave them a chance to win all week and you could feel the energy buzzing in the locker room. It was a big release. Watch the behind the scenes footage here.
“Great job, men,” head coach Bill Belichick said. “Situational football. Making the plays we had to make at the end. Now that’s a good job. That’s the way to come down here and get the job done. And I’m telling you we won the game in the meeting room, on the practice field, in the walkthroughs, all through the week. It just didn’t happen today- it happened all through the week. That was a great job.”
The Patriots handed the game ball to Jimmy Garoppolo and everyone on that squad was fired up for him. Garoppolo even led the final breakdown, instead of the typical speech from Matthew Slater.
“That was a great team win,” Garoppolo said from the middle of the huddle. “Let’s build on it for next week. Let’s go. ‘Team’ on three!”
Truly inspirational stuff, Jimmy.
But seriously, Garoppolo should be extremely proud of his effort in his first NFL start. It definitely seems like he’ll be starting many more games down the road.
“Great job,” Belichick said to Garoppolo away from the rest of the team. “That’s a tough place to play.”
“I’m proud of you,” team owner Robert Kraft told Garoppolo. “You stay cool.”
My big question is whether the team can sustain this high level of energy and play for the rest of Tom Brady’s suspension. I think they can and there’s never a reason to doubt the Patriots, but this was an emotionally powerful game. Hopefully Garoppolo gets another game ball next week.