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Vaunted Cardinals fall flat in season opener (The Associated Press)

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- A season of sky-high expectations began with a thud for the Arizona Cardinals.

A day after his team lost at home to the depleted New England Patriots 23-21, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians watched video of the contest Monday and dissected what went wrong.

''It wasn't just the young players,'' he said, ''but it was a lot of young players that got caught up in everything that was going on. There were some critical errors by some young players.''

Third down woes, on offense and defense, plagued the team, as did missed tackles and, on one big play, blown coverage by a rookie.