-Jimmy’s got the Moves:  As a perennial contender and the most dominant franchise in the NFL for 15 years running there are always a myriad of stories revolving around the New England Patriots as we enter each NFL season.  This year there was pretty much just one: Jimmy Garoppolo.   It was the one thing talk show hosts, columnists and Pats fans were talking about.  It was the Pokemon Go of summer sports stories.  And it was a story with many layers.  How much would he play in the preseason?  How would Garoppolo do in his first opportunity to start?  What will the Patriots do with him if he plays great? Trade him? Stash him for the future?  Extract his DNA and try to clone the handsome bastard?

And then there was the Brady angle.  How would he handle all of this?  Would he mentor Garoppolo? (not so much)  Would he sing the praises of the young quarterback in an attempt to build Garoppolo’s confidence? (not really)  Would he care about giving up preseason reps and hold onto each snap with a death grip knowing his own history of battling young backups and hijacking the job from an established Pro Bowler? (a big fat yes).

And how would the Patriots handle all of this post-deflategate drama.  Would they passively sit back and let the drama unfold naturally or would they call a printing shop and have them produce a massive creepy Kim Jong Un size banner of Tom Brady to hang over Gillette Stadium?

All were interesting questions, but the only one that really mattered centered around Garoppolo’s performance.  After an inconsistent preseason was Jimmy G actually ready for primetime?  After one game the answer looks like a resounding yes.  Last night, with Brady’s shadow looming, Garoppolo went on the road against a consensus Super Bowl contender and under the bright glare of Sunday Night Football had a huge night, completing 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards and a QB rating of 106.  More importantly he lead the Patriots on a game-winning FG drive in the final minutes that included a monster 3^rd and 15 conversion where he evaded the rush, got his eyes downfield, and threw a dart to Danny Amendola.  It was the type of play we have come to expect from New England’s starting quarterback the last 15 years.  It was not the type of play you expect from a guy making his first career start.

For 60 minutes Garoppolo was smart, poised and accurate.  He looked like a guy unfazed by his surroundings.  He looked like he belonged.  It’s still way too early to know what the future holds for Jimmy G, but as far as opening nights go this was a Tony Award level performance.

-The anti-Bledsoe:  Perhaps more impressive than his numbers or the victory was Garoppolo’s composure.  For four quarters he looked relaxed, almost bored, like he was playing flag football at the Y.  Not a great mentality for a middle linebacker but the perfect state of mind for an NFL quarterback.  There was no fear; there were no happy feet; there were no bad decisions.  Even after he gave up a brutal fumble in the second quarter Garoppolo looked undaunted.  I assure you that is the first thing potential trade partners on other teams took note of.

-Smelling Salts:  Maybe no moment was more telling about Garoppolo’s calm demeanor than the scene of him inhaling smelling salts on the sideline before kickoff.  Most first-time starters would be trying to relax before a game and there’s Garoppolo whiffing the same stuff they use on guys that are knocked out cold.

-Stock Watch:  Speaking of trades, since it is 95% likely that Garoppolo’s performance will inevitably lead to a trade in the offseason, we will be charting his trade value each week to gauge what the Patriots might get in return for the young quarterback.  And please don’t assume the package will be massive simply because the Eagles received a King’s ransom (a 1^st and a possible 2^nd) for noodle-armed Sam Bradford.  The result of most negotiations is directly tied to the leverage and competence of the parties involved.  The Bradford trade to Minnesota was less about Bradford’s ability and more about the desperation and stupidity of the Vikings.  Garoppolo’s current trade value:  mid-first rounder

-In Good Company:  Most quarterbacks making their first career start do so in their rookie season so it would be unfair to compare their performance to Garoppolo’s, who is in his 3^rd year.  A better comparison would be to Aaron Rodgers, who sat for three full years before taking over for Brett Favre in year 4.  Favre tried to unretire but was told “thanks but no thanks”, and nudged out the door in favor of the highly talented Rodgers.  In his first career start Rodgers completed 18 of 22 passes for a 115 QB rating and led the Packers to a 24-19 win over the rival Vikings.  Favre moved on to play for the NY Jets, where he lead the league in interceptions, wore Crocs and specialized in sexual harassment.

-Another Notch in the Master’s Belt:  Sunday Night was a classic Belichick game.  While the Patriots have been favorites or slight underdogs in most of the games they have played in since 2001 every so often a special set of circumstances produces a game where the Patriots are heavy underdogs.  Last night was one of those games.  By Kickoff the Patriots were getting as much as 9.5 points.  These are the games where Belichick thrives.  It’s almost as if he takes it as some kind of personal challenge.  According to the web site Pats Pulpit since 2000 the Patriots are 5-1 as 9.5 point underdogs or worse.

-No timeout?:  Despite a great night from the coaching staff, if the Patriots lost the game Belichick would have been hammered for his bizarre decision to not to use his final timeout for 20 seconds as Arizona was lining up for a go-ahead field goal.  Equally strange was Belichick’s explanation that he did not immediately call a timeout because he thought the Cardinals were going to line up and kick the field goal as quickly as possible.  Why would he assume Arizona would kick so quickly and not milk the clock knowing the Patriots still had plenty of time to drive down the field?

-It’s all in the Details:  Sunday Night Belichick appeared to give a preview of his 2016 kickoff strategy now that the NFL has changed its rules and moved the starting point to the 25 yard-line following touchbacks.  Despite having the strength to kick it out of the back of the end zone on most kickoffs, Gostkowski clearly was instructed to kick the ball short and tempt the Cardinals to return it.  On four such kickoffs Arizona’s average starting field position was the 15 yard-line, saving New England’s defense 10 yards.

-Big night for Brady’s Gilligan:  Reluctant sperm donor and slot receiver extraordinaire Julian Edelman reminded everybody just how valuable he is to the offense.   Apparently still pissed off that the league stole his quarterback, Edelman played all night like a man possessed, racking up 7 catches including 3 for first downs.  Then after the game he revealed to the nation the pecking order of his heart when he said to Tom Brady watching at home, “Love you Buddy” before saying “Love you Mom”.  Priorities.

-If only there was a Hall-Of-Fame for Assistant Coaches:  The return of OL coach Dante Scarnecchia is already paying dividends.  Injuries and surprise cuts forced Scarnecchia to cobble together a line that featured two rookies and zero guys drafted in the first two rounds yet under Scarnecchia’s tutelage they held their own against a talented Arizona front seven.

-Cannon still Shooting Blanks:  Unfortunately even Scarnecchia appears unable to do anything about woeful tackle Marcus Cannon.  Despite reports that Cannon had a good camp and was in the best shape of his career the much-maligned right tackle picked up right where he left off last year and once again looked like a human turnstile.  The lowlights:

-Allowed both sacks including the one where Garoppolo fumbled

-Allowed a QB pressure on 3^rd and 5 ending the Patriots final drive

-Was called for a holding penalty,nullifying a pass interference call that would have put New England on the one yard-line

-Mixed Bag on D:  The defense played good enough to win but was far from the dominant unit that some had promised coming out of the preseason.   The Patriots did manage 3 sacks but generated zero turnovers and allowed Carson Palmer a QB rating of 104.7.  Hard to blame them for the Cardinals final touchdown which featured perfect coverage by CB Logan Ryan and a great catch by Canton-bound WR Larry Fitzgerald.  The touchdown, however, was set up by a 45-yard David Johnson run where multiple Patriots missed tackles at the line-of-scrimmage.

-Come here Emmitt, come here boy:  Last night it was revealed that David Johnson grew up such a huge Emmitt Smith fan that he named his dog after him.  I hope if somebody ever chooses to honor me they don’t do so by naming their dog after me.

-The Million Dollar Invisible Man:  With multiple contracts expiring on the defensive side of the ball there has been a lot of guess work as to what it will take to sign each player.  The consensus is that the guy considered most likely to break the bank is LB Jaime Collins, with some people speculating that he could receive a 100 million dollar contract.  Collins is a sometimes explosive player with big upside but he doesn’t make anywhere near enough plays to warrant that kind of investment; and last night was another prime example.  In a big spot, on national TV, with his star QB serving a four week sentence in NFL jail, Collins barely had his name called.  If you want J.J. Watt money, you have to have more of an impact than that.

-He’s no Phil Simms but….:  Is it me or are Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth slowly losing their fastball as a broadcast team.  Michaels is starting to show his age and Collinsworth, once renowned for speaking his mind, is starting to sound like somebody that spent the last few offseasons at a Roger Goodell re-education camp.

-Deflategate, the Gift that keeps on Giving:  Even companies are getting into the trolling business.  Check out this commercial that aired during Sunday Night Football https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrmTfa4rL7I.  Not sure if they are tweaking the NFL or the Patriots but either way I like this commercial.

 -“Oh Say Can You Sit”:  Sunday’s NFL games featured the awkward confluence of 9-11 tributes and Colin Kaepernick-inspired National Anthem protesters.  And the Patriots were not immune.  At the end of the Anthem Sunday Night, Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty echoed the ghosts of John Carlos and Tommie Smith by holding up their fists in an apparent show of support for Kaepernick’s cause, while rejecting Kaepernick’s method of protest.  McCourty later explained, “I believe in this country.  I love this country.  My father was in the Army.  My older brother was in the Army…….I respect that.”

-After hinting at something all week the Seahawks entire team linked arms during the National Anthem

-Arian Foster and some of his Dolphins teammates took a knee during the Anthem

-Broncos LB Brandon Marshall was dropped by one of his sponsors for kneeling during the Anthem.  Maybe it’s not so smart to kneel during the Anthem if one of your sponsors is the Air Academy Federal Credit Union, which has “proudly served the military community for over 60 years”.

-MMQB reported that around 70 NFL players participated in a group text to discuss ways to protest during games

-What happens to those massive American flags after football games?  Is there some sort of enormous storage closet in every stadium?

-Kristin Chenoweth’s National Anthem was sub-par and we really didn’t need to hear, during a 9-11 tribute, that she is “returning to Broadway”.  Who wrote that intro, her agent?

-Super model Kate Upton even weighed in on the protests saying in part the protests were “a disgrace to those that served and currently serve our country.”  I don’t really care what Kate Upton thinks about anything but this is a nice excuse to show her picture.