Big Red Recap: Cardinals can’t take down Brady-less, Gronk-less Pats

No Tom Brady. No Rob Gronkowski. No problem for the New England Patriots.

Behind Jimmy Garoppolo, making his first NFL start, the Patriots stunned the Arizona Cardinals and a sold out University of Phoenix Stadium with a 23-21 season-opening victory on Sunday Night Football.

Garoppolo passed for 264 yards and a touchdown, leading the Patriots on scoring drives on three of their four second-half possessions.

The Cardinals had a chance to win it, but Chandler Catanzaro’s 47-yard field goal sailed wide left, handing the Patriots the victory and ending the Cardinals’ run of five consecutive home-opening wins.

Carson Palmer went 24-of-37 for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked three times.

Palmer’s two touchdowns went to Larry Fitzgerald, the 99th and 100th of Fitzgerald’s career.

The Patriots jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, had a three-point advantage at halftime (10-7) and responded when the Cardinals took the lead early in the fourth quarter (21-20) with a 13-play, 61-yard drive ending with a Stephen Gostkowski 32-yard field goal, his third of the game.

With the win, the Patriots evened the all-time series, 7-7, dating back to 1970.

THE GOOD

On the game’s fifth play, Fitzgerald caught an 11-yard pass on third down. While the reception did not give the Cardinals a first down, it did give Fitzgerald at least one catch in 180 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL. Three possessions later, Fitzgerald grabbed his second ball, good for six yards, which moved him past Torry Holt (13,382) for 14th place on the league’s all-time receiving yardage list.

Getting pressure on the quarterback. And doing it with a four-man rush. That’s what the Cardinals hoped to do this season, and they were successful midway in the second quarter. On 3rd-and-8, Garoppolo dropped to throw and was sacked by Markus Golden, who knocked the ball loose. The fumble was recovered by Chandler Jones, the former Patriot. He was then flagged for a “choreographed celebration” by the referee.

Capitalizing on the above Patriots turnover is exactly what the Cardinals did. On their fourth possession, the Cardinals finally scored. Palmer tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald on the 11th play of the drive that covered 54 yards in 6:20 and made it 10-7, Patriots at 4:06 before halftime. It was Fitzgerald’s 99th career touchdown catch, tying Hall of Fame receiver Don Hutson for 10th place on the NFL’s all-time touchdown reception list.

Capitalizing on yet another Patriots turnover is how the Cardinals scored their second touchdown. After LeGarrette Blount fumbled—Frostee Rucker caused it and Calais Campbell recovered—the Cardinals covered 33 yards on five plays in 1:51 with David Johnson running into the end zone to pull to within three, 17-14, at the 4:29 mark of the third quarter. By the way, Johnson had 34 yards on 11 carries in the first half.

The “Larry! Larry!” chants bounced off the stadium roof five minutes into the fourth quarter, and for good reason. Fitzgerald grabbed his fifth ball, his second touchdown—the 100th of his career, tied for eighth all-time with Tim Brown and Steve Largent—on a fade route to hand the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 21-20, with 9:46 to play. Fitzgerald made the over-the-shoulder one-yard catch as he was falling to the ground.

THE BAD

It appeared punter Drew Butler was shaken up following his first punt of the game. It came on the game’s first drive. His kick traveled 38 yards, and as he jogged off the field he went straight to the bench area, where the training staff looked him over. Following several minutes, Butler stood up and began walking the sideline. He punted three more times in the first half, averaging 35.3 yards on four total kicks.

Accurate in the preseason. Accurate in the regular season — at least on the first drive. Garoppolo completed four of his five pass attempts for a total of 75 yards in leading the Patriots to a touchdown on their first possession. He found a wide open Chris Hogan, who beat Brandon Williams for a 37-yard score down the left sideline, capping an eight-play, 74-yard drive in 4:13 for a 7-0 lead at the 7:34 mark of the first quarter.

The second half began just as the game did, with a Patriots 70-plus yard scoring drive. This time, it was Blount with an eight-yard run into the end zone, putting to bed a nine-play, 75-yard drive in 5:00 for a 17-7 lead at the 10:00 mark of the third quarter. Twice on the possession, the Patriots converted on third down, once with Garoppolo scrambling 10 yards and then Malcolm Mitchell catching a 28-yard throw.

STAT OF THE GAME

10-of-16: The Patriots converted 62.5 percent of their third-down opportunities, including going 6-of-8 in the second half.

HE SAID IT

“It does feel very similar,” head coach Bruce Arians said, referring to last season’s loss in Pittsburgh when Landry Jones came off the bench to lead the Steelers to victory. “They ran their offense. It doesn’t matter who the quarterback is.”

NOTED

– Receiver J.J. Nelson (shoulder) and guard Evan Mathis (foot) exited the game in the second quarter; Mathis returned and exited again.

– Defensive tackle Frostee Rucker (knee) limped off the field and later made his way to the locker room at the start of the fourth quarter.

– Among the seven Cardinals’ inactives were linebacker Kareem Martin and running back Stepfan Taylor, both of whom have knee injuries.

– Arizona Senator and U.S. Navy veteran John McCain joined both teams’ captains at midfield for the coin toss, which the Cardinals won.

– Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth sang the National Anthem as part of NFL’s 15th anniversary of the remembrance of Sept. 11.

–  The Sept. 11 tributes also included video messages from both President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush prior to kickoff.

UP NEXT

It’s another home game for the Cardinals.

They’ll host the 1-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Sept. 18. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning hour hours earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

The Cardinals won the previous matchup 13-10 in 2013, but it was the Buccaneers who earned the victory when they last visited the Valley six years ago, 38-35.

The all-time series between the teams is tied 9-9, dating back to 1977.

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