Missing stars pose no problem for Patriots
The New England Patriots proved one thing in their opener. The system is as strong as ever. It’s play calling. It’s scheming against the opposition’s weakness. It’s plugging in unheralded players and transforming them into weapons. Guys such as receiver Chris Hogan, a restricted free agent the Buffalo Bills let walk, now a key cog. It’s a commitment to consistency. It’s a hyperfocus on detail. And it’s so much more.
That was all on display Sunday night as the Patriots outlasted the Arizona Cardinals 23-21. The most surprising thing about all of this, frankly, is that it’s surprising to begin with.
This was a Patriots team that entered the game as a 91⁄ 2- point underdog, its biggest margin since Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002. The Cardinals, if preseason predictions are an indicator, are one of the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
New England missed all-pro tight end Rob Gronkowski (hamstring), lacked three starting offensive linemen and lost the turnover battle -2.
Oh, and Tom Brady sat and watched from home, serving the first game of his four-game Deflategate suspension.
So it would be up to third-year backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. All he did was dissect a talented Cardinals defense to the tune of a 72.7% completion rate, 264 yards and one touchdown. Far from flawless, it was efficient.
“He played well the entire game,” Hogan, who caught three passes for 60 yards and a score, told USA TODAY Sports after the game. “He’s the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots. He stepped up well, and he handled himself really well throughout the entire game. He was composed. He was confident. And I think everyone saw that in the huddle and responded.”
But Garoppolo was merely an instrument. He managed the shrewd game plan offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and coach Bill Belichick crafted: The Patriots alternated between spreading the field in three-receiver sets and power football in two-tight-end formations. They flustered the Arizona corners with crossing routes. Then they took shots down the field.
“It is difficult,” Cardinals safety Tony Jefferson said. “They know we are a man (defense), and Belichick is a smart man.”
“I was telling someone earlier, it is still the Patriots,” Arizona linebacker Kevin Minter added. “The proof is in the pudding. They have done it for years. Whoever they put in there, they find a way to get it done.”
How strong is New England’s system?
The Patriots faced their first and only deficit of the night 21-20 with 9:46 left in the game. New England had ceded momentum after controlling the majority of the game. It was up to Garoppolo and the offense to seize it back.
The drive started at the New England 25-yard line. Players trotted onto the field and assembled the huddle. Garoppolo took command. What he said sparked the 10 other players to embark on a 13-play, 66-yard drive that drained 6:02 from the clock and eventually won the game, via kicker Stephen Gostkowski’s 32yard field goal. Nothing. “He didn’t say anything,” tight end Martellus Bennett told USA TODAY Sports as he pulled his silver rollaway bag toward the stadium exit. “We just said, ‘Let’s go.’ We didn’t make a big deal out of it. We didn’t need to get hyped. Our coaches put us in these situations all throughout camp, and we practiced it. We experienced those moments before. We knew what we had to do. It was just: ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
Receiver Julian Edelman, asked to recall what was said in the huddle: “I don’t even remember.” Ho-hum. In the locker room, this was just another game. But New England sent a message to the rest of the league.
“Whoever is out there,” Garoppolo said in a news conference, “we have confidence in one another, and that’s a good thing.”
That’s the scary part. At least, for the rest of the NFL.
The Brady-less Patriots, after the rest of the AFC East teams lost their openers, already have a one-game cushion in the division.
New England’s next three games — which will finish Garoppolo’s stint at quarterback — are at home in Foxborough, Mass., against the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.
Once Brady, Gronkowski, defensive end Rob Ninkovich and the absent offensive linemen return, the Patriots will be stronger.
“All the adversity we had in the first game, it’s good,” Bennett said. “It shows us that we can overcome anything.”