Jimmy Garoppolo had a solid outing in his first NFL start in Arizona, showing far more promise of any Patriots quarterback not named Tom Brady during the Bill Belichick era Sunday night against the Cardinals.
Taking a look at the numbers, the veteran quarterback played well, keeping the vast majority of throws in front of him while not trying to do too much. He only attempted four passes of 15 or more yards on the night, keeping the remaining 29 attempts under that distance with pretty good balance, especially on the outside.
Looking closer, here’s how it broke down:
FULL BREAKDOWN BY ZONE:
SHORT LEFT: – Garoppolo completed 10-of-12 (83%) for 107 yards on passes of under 15-yards to the left side of the field.
Players Targeted:
Malcolm Mitchell: 2-of-3, 33yds
James White: 3-of-3, 26yds
Julian Edelman: 2-of-2, 19yds
Chris Hogan: 1-of-1, 19yds
Martellus Bennett: 2-of-2, 10yds
Danny Amendola: 0-of-1
SHORT MIDDLE: Garoppolo was 4-of-6 (67%) for 39 yards on passes to this zone, his lowest attempt total of the three zones.
Players Targeted:
Julian Edelman: 1-of-1, 19yds
Danny Amendola: 1-of-1, 13yds
Chris Hogan: 1-of-1, 4yds
Jimmy Garoppolo: 1-of-1, 3yds*
*Deflected pass back to himself
Martellus Bennett: 0-of-1
James White: 0-of-1
SHORT RIGHT: Garoppolo finished the night 8-of-11 throwing to this zone, with Edelman finishing as the leading receiver after catching all four passes thrown his way.
Players Targeted:
Julian Edelman: 4-of-4, 28yds
James White: 2-of-3, 14yds
Martellus Bennett: 1-of-2, 4yds
Danny Amendola: 1-of-1, 3yds
Chris Hogan: 0-of-1
DEEP LEFT: Garoppolo had pass attempts of over 15 yards down the left side three times and hit on two of them, with the most memorable being the touchdown pass he hit to Chris Hogan, which went for 37-yards. The other was another big one, with Garoppolo hitting Amendola for a 32-yard play on a 3rd-and-15 on what proved to be their game-winning drive. Throwing the deep ball seems to be his strength, which we saw Sunday night.
Players Targeted:
Chris Hogan: 1-of-1, 37yds 1TD
Danny Amendola: 1-of-1, 32yds
Malcolm Mitchell: 0-of-1
DEEP MIDDLE: No completions.
Players Targeted:
Malcolm Mitchell: 0-of-1
OTHER NOTES:
Strong on 3rd Down:
Garoppolo finished the night 8-of-10 on 3rd down (80%) for 107 yards with seven passing first downs to six different receivers. James White (2), Julian Edelman (1), Danny Amendola (1), Chris Hogan (1), Malcolm Mitchell (1) and Martellus Bennett (1) made this list.
Perfect in the third quarter:
Garoppolo finished a perfect 8-of-8 for 64 yards in the third quarter, with each drive started that quarter, with the exception of Blount’s turnover, leading to points. He was 7-of-11 (64%) for 106 yards and TD in the 1st QTR, 3-of-5 (60%) 27yds in the 2nd QTR, 8-of-8 (100%) 64yds in the 3rd QTR and 6-of-9 (67%) 67yds in the 4th QTR.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
