The New England Patriots managed to defeat the Arizona Cardinals in their 2016 regular season opener despite not having their two best players on the field. The absences of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, as well as starting left tackle Nate Solder and starting right guard Jonathan Cooper, led many to believe that the Patriots would be gasping for breath against one of the strongest, fastest and most dangerous teams in the NFL.
But that ended up not being the case whatsoever.