FOR THE FIRST time since 1997, the opening week of the most popular sport in the United States got under way with neither Tom Brady nor Peyton Manning in action, underscoring the end of one of the NFL’s most evocative rivalries.
Manning headed into retirement in March, a month after steering the Denver Broncos to an upset victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, the final act of a glittering 18-year career and the Broncos opened the NFL regular season on Thursday with a 21-20 victory over Carolina.
New England Patriots icon Brady is banned for the opening four games of the new campaign after losing his long-running battle with the league over the 2015 “Deflategate” saga.
With Brady suspended, Jimmy Garoppolo was under the microscope and didn’t disappoint in his first career start.
The Patriots leaned on Garoppolo and the third-year quarterback helped lead them to a 23-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, starting with this 37-yard touchdown connection with a wide open Chris Hogan.
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Garoppolo finished 24 of 33 for 264 yards and that touchdown but led the Patriots on three lengthy scoring drives in the second half that helped close out the win.
However, New England still gave the Cardinals — widely expected to challenge for NFC honours this year — plenty to time to win the game and Arizona started their final drive with over three-and-a-half minutes on the clock.
With no timeouts, Carson Palmer led his team down to the Patriots 29-yard-line with just over a minute to go but that’s where the drive stalled.
With 41 seconds on the clock, Chandler Catanzaro had an opportunity to kick what would likely have been the game-winning score but he missed and the temporary post-Brady era began with a W.
Additional reporting via AFP.