As the seasons change from balmy afternoons to frigid mornings, football fanatics were excited for the start of the NFL season during the first week of September. The games this week were nothing but excitement and disappointment for teams across the league.

   The first week of any national sports league is always the most entertaining and nerve-wracking because of the certain expectations that each team has to uphold. The majority of football aficionados were wondering how the New England Patriots would fare against the Arizona Cardinals, one of the top teams in the NFL. Specifically, many speculated how they would fare with the exclusion of some of  their best players in the first game of the season: Tom Brady, their star quarterback, and Rob Gronkowski, the tight end for the New England Patriots. Tom Bradley was supposed to start for this game, but he was suspended for four games due to a prolonged controversy, which lasted for 18 months.

   However, the Patriots were able to overcome the loss of their star players by winning against the Arizona Cardinals. The New England team fought an up-hill battle against the Cardinals for the majority of the game. Although the Patriots successfully scored 10 points during the first quarter, their competitor scored seven points consecutively in the second and third quarters, which was expected since the many fans thought the Patriots would lose this game.

   It was somewhat of a miracle that the Patriots were able to win the game; the main contributor to the victory was Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo, quarterback for the Patriots, was able to fill Brady’’s shoes effectively by scoring a touchdown during the first quarter. In comparison of Garoppolo’s previous season stats, he successfully completed 23 out of 24 passes that he threw in just one game; he only threw four passes last season. He really stepped up for this game because his play-making ability was severely miniscule before the game against the Cardinals. While it is beneficial for seasoned veterans to start in tough matches, players with lesser experience can always surprise and show that they are quality players.

   During fourth quarter, the Cardinals were down a significant amount of points and the team tried to come back in the game by scoring seven points, which made the Cardinals take the lead.  It did not last long because the Patriots scored a field goal and put themselves ahead by two points. The Cardinals had only one chance to get ahead of their competitors: a successful field goal. Nevertheless, they failed to do so and this led to victory for the New Englanders. Cardinals fans were severely disappointed, but Patriots fans were ecstatic for the surprising win against the Cardinals.