The Arizona Cardinals are hungry for their first-ever Super Bowl championship.
That journey will begin Sunday in Glendale when they open the 2016 regular season against the team that won the Super Bowl in the Cards' very own stadium less than two years ago.
See also: Storyline and prediction for all 16 Cardinals games in 2016
Who will come out on top when the Cards face the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football? Here are three questions and a prediction for that matchup.
1. Who is Jimmy Garoppolo?
Talk about an unknown commodity. While Patriots quarterback and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady begins serving his four-game "Deflategate" suspension Sunday, backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will be making his first-ever NFL start in Brady's place.
Who is Jimmy Garoppolo?@Dameshek goes back to the roots of the @Patriots QB...
?https://t.co/2Z2FK5ChzH pic.twitter.com/lGjqAxMvhf
— NFL Now (@NFLNow) September 10, 2016
Garoppolo, the Patriots' second-round NFL Draft pick in 2014, had a decent preseason: He completed 36 of 54 passes for 406 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. What does that mean? Probably not much when one considers Brady's preseason numbers were actually worse than Garoppolo's.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder will have plenty of weapons at his disposal Sunday, though he will be missing a key one (more on that later). But there's a good chance the blitz-happy Cardinals won't give him much time to throw. Will Garoppolo be able to thrive in a real game against a Super Bowl-caliber team in a hostile environment?
2. Which Carson Palmer will show up?
Carson Palmer was a bona fide MVP candidate throughout 2015, but the wheels came off for the 36-year-old Cardinals quarterback during a pair of playoff games, especially in the Cards' NFC Championship loss at the Carolina Panthers. Palmer didn't look particularly good in the preseason, either -- but see Question No. 1 for the significance of that.
It is fair, however, to wonder which Palmer we'll see Sunday as he takes the field for his first meaningful game since the Cards' ill-fated trip to Charlotte eight months ago. The 14th-year pro is a perfectionist and has worked as hard on the field and in the weight room as any NFL player has during the offseason, but we'll just have to wait and see whether that preparation will translate into wins.
Since midpoint of his 1st season in AZ, no QB has better win % than Carson Palmer (83.9) #BeRedSeeRed pic.twitter.com/Ydj7YkM0TP
— Mark Dalton (@CardsMarkD) September 7, 2016
Will we see the MVP-caliber Palmer on Sunday? Or will he struggle against a Patriots pass defense that allowed just 24 touchdown passes last season and was sixth-best in the NFL in defending passes of 15-plus yards?
3. What will Gronk's absence mean?
Brady isn't the only superstar out for Sunday night's game. All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski will not suit up against the Cards, either, as he's dealing with a nagging hamstring injury he suffered during training camp.
Since 2010, New England has run 6,520 offensive plays. Only 96 of those have come with Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady off the field.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 10, 2016
The Patriots have other weapons at their disposal, including former ASU running back/receiver D.J. Foster, who could be a crucial safety valve for Garoppolo. The Patriots' No. 2 tight end, Martellus Bennett, is also capable of causing trouble for a Cardinals team that has often struggled against opposing tight ends.
But without Gronk, who has already shattered a number of NFL tight-end records, New England's road to an upset victory appears to be that much steeper. Will the absence of Brady and Gronkowski simply be too much for New England to overcome?
Prediction:
Thanks to the success of their "All or Nothing" Amazon documentary, the Cardinals were the undisputed stars of the NFL offseason. It's easy to think those accolades could have gone to some of the players' heads. Combine that with a home game against an injury-riddled team with a backup quarterback, and it's easy to understand why some might think the Cards are ripe for a classic "we took them too lightly" upset loss.
I think the Cardinals could very well lose Sunday, but for none of those reasons. My concern is specifically about Palmer and his psyche after having months to contemplate his shortcomings in last season's playoffs.
Arizona has all the tools needed to once again be one of the NFL's best teams -- an incredible running back in David Johnson, a ton of talent at wide receiver, Pro Bowlers in the secondary, and the pass rusher they desperate needed in linebacker Chandler Jones, who was acquired in an offseason trade with New England.
Those factors, along with the fact that the Cards have won six consecutive home openers, are why I like Arizona to get past the Patriots on Sunday in spite of what I suspect will be another shaky performance from their veteran quarterback.
Cardinals 20, Patriots 17
