the key to safety in kick c

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Jimmy Garoppolo did just what Tom Brady always seems to do. Lead the New England Patriots to a late score and victory.But the Patriots needed a little help.Arizonas Chandler Catanzaro missed a 47-yard field goal with 41 seconds to play and the severely depleted Patriots escaped with a 23-21 victory Sunday night in the season opener.We should have won the game, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. As poorly as we played, we should have still won.The snap from rookie long snapper Kameron Canady was low and holder Drew Butler didnt get the ball in terrific position. But Catanzaro was making no excuses.Just an old-fashioned miss, Catanzaro said. Ill make the next one.Arians said: It was a low snap. Drew got it down and he (Catanzaro) pulled it.The miss came after Garoppolo, in his first NFL start, directed the Patriots from their own 19 to the Arizona 15 to set up Stephen Gostkowskis 23-yard field goal for what proved to be the winner with 3:44 to play.Garoppolo completed 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards with no interceptions. He never seemed rattled.When you have confidence in your teammates and they have confidence in you, its easy to stay poised, he said.Coach Bill Bilichick wasnt ready to crown Garoppolo the next Brady, though.He made some good plays. It is not perfect but he made a lot of good plays, Bilichick said.Arizonas Carson Palmer threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns, both to Larry Fitzgerald.We came out too slow, Palmer said, and obviously there when you have to win it with a late field goal, youre obviously behind the 8-ball.Not only were the Patriots without Brady, suspended for his role in deflategate, but they also didnt have tight end Rob Gronkowski, defensive end Rob Ninkovich and two starters on the offensive line.Again, Garoppolo talked about that Patriot confidence.Whoever is out there we have confidence in one another, he said. That is a good thing we have going for us.A remarkable 45-yard run by David Johnson set up a 2-yard, sliding, over-the-shoulder touchdown catch by Fitzgerald that gave the Cardinals their only lead of the night, 21-20, with 9:46 remaining.Ex-Patriot Chandler Jones sacked Garoppolo on the first play of New Englands next possession, but the young quarterback still set up the winning kick by Gostkowski, who also booted a 53-yarder.I am really proud of our team tonight, Belichick said. I thought we got great effort from all three phases. We played a good complimentary game.A holding penalty hampered the final Arizona drive but a pass to Jaron Brown put the Cardinals within field-goal range. The snap was low and Catanzaro booted the ball to the left of the uprights.New England, a five-point underdog, took the lead on its first possession and scored again to start the second half.Up 10-7 at the break, the Patriots took the second-half kickoff and went 70 yards in nine plays. Rookie cornerback Brandon Williams was beaten badly for the second time on Garoppolos 28-yard pass to the Arizona 8. LaGarrette Blount bulled it in from there and the Patriots led 17-7 with 10 minutes left in the first quarter.The first two Arizona touchdowns followed New England turnovers.REMARKABLE RUNJohnsons remarkable run featured about every tool in the running back kit.He jump cut into the line, spun away from a would-be tackler, put his hand on the ground to steady his balance and stiff-armed another defender before racing down the sidelines. That set up a pretty over-the-shoulder catch by Fitzgerald, the 100th TD reception of his career.I thought I was going to take it to the house, Johnson said. I didnt see the guy behind me. Hopefully it was a defensive lineman and not a linebacker.FAST STARTGaroppolo got off to a fast start, overthrowing the receiver on his first pass then completing four straight for 75 yards. He took advantage of blown coverage by Williams to throw to a wide open Chris Hogan for 37 yards and a touchdown .On their second possession, the Patriots drove from their 8 to the Arizona 29 and Gostkowskis 47-yard field goal made it 10-0.TURNOVER NO. 1The only turnover of the first half led to Arizonas lone first-half score.Garoppolo took a hit from Markus Golden and fumbled. Jones, acquired in an offseason trade with New England, recovered for Arizona at the New England 40.NO DANCINGA celebration dance by Jones and D.J. Swearinger drew a 15-yard penalty after the turnover, but the Cardinals still drove for a score.Palmer threw 2 yards to Fitzgerald to cut the lead to 10-7 with 6:20 left in the first half.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-NFL China Jerseys Cheap . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. 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DAmigo scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Toronto Marlies edged the San Antonio Rampage 5-4 in American Hockey League action. OXNARD, Calif. -- Chris Maragos cant imagine an NFL without kickoffs.The Philadelphia special teams ace admits to sounding like a lobbyist when he said he never feels safer during a play that the league keeps altering in an effort to reduce high-speed collisions, backed by statistics that show most injuries occur on kickoffs.With competition committee member Stephen Jones of the Dallas Cowboys suggesting that safety is more important than players making a living covering kickoffs and punts, Maragos is quick on the counterpoint.Yeah, things are moving fast and youre running down the field. But I never feel like my safetys compromised, at all, said Maragos, who is going into his seventh year as mostly a special teams player. From what people look on the outside in, it looks like a chaotic play. But the guys who are really mastering it know what theyre doing. Its pretty under control.Five years after moving the kickoff to the 35-yard line from the 30 to reduce the number of returns, the NFL is trying something else to encourage more touchbacks by putting the ball on the 25 instead of the 20 on a one-year trial.There is still plenty of dialogue, too.Senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino held a conference call with special teams coaches during the offseason.Among other ideas being discussed are eliminating the running start for the coverage team and pulling players on the receiving team closer to the kickoff line so that theyre moving more in the same direction as the kicking team, making it more like blocking for a punt return.Blandino said he doesnt think the kickoff will be eliminated.Its a big part of the game, he said. Its an exciting play.But the league increasingly sees it as a dangerous play, particularly with so much attention on concussions. And thats where Jones isnt swayed by the idea that it might mean fewer opportunities for players who arent good enough to be stars on offense or defense.At the end of the day the players health and safety is the No. 1 priority in this league, said Jones, the executive vice president of personnel for the Cowboys. If that comes at the expense of something else thats not as high a priority, then we certainly have to accept that.One of the most noteworthy plays of 2015 was actually a punt return, when Dallas safety Jeff Heath blocked Ricardo Lockette when the Seattle coverage man was in full stride and didnt see him. It was a legal play, but the resulting neck injury ended Lockettes career.ddddddddddddWhile Heath has twice as many tackles on defense as Maragos in half the number of years, he still fits the special teams profile: part-time defensive player, full-time chaser of opposing kick returners. And he believes there will always be a need for that.Youre covering a lot of ground and youve got to be fast, said Heath, who is going into his fourth season. Theres a lot of skill that comes into it as well. Those type of guys tend to do well wherever they play. Defense, offense or special teams.Maragos would argue that kickoffs and punts are gateways to stardom, too. Among his peers, he points to Tennessee tight end Delanie Walker, his teammate in San Francisco when Maragos was a rookie. He says special teams helped keep Walker on the roster, and now Walker is coming off a Pro Bowl season in Tennessee.Minnesota receiver Adam Thielen was undrafted out of Division II Minnesota State Mankato and spent a year on the practice squad before becoming a key special teams contributor for the Vikings. He blocked a punt for a touchdown in 2014 and last season ran a fake punt 41 yards in the NFC North-clinching season finale at Green Bay.Thielen said the key to safety in kick coverage comes on the practice field.Every day, its technique, technique, technique, he said. I really dont think its more dangerous than an offensive play. You could get hit on a crossing route over the middle a lot harder than on a kickoff.Maragos grew up in Wisconsin rooting for the Green Bay Packers, who beat New England 35-21 in the 1997 Super Bowl. The thing Maragos remembers most is the anticipation of the opening kickoff. And by the way, Desmond Howard had a 99-yard kickoff return and was the games MVP.You talk about speed down the field, athleticism to avoid blocks. You talk about a heart, a grit, a determination, an inner desire, Maragos said. To me, it embodies everything that an NFL football player should be. And really what the game is about.---AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell in Minneapolis and Stephen Hawkins in Dallas contributed to this report.---Online:AP NFL websites: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Schuyler Dixon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apschuyler ' ' '