The New England Patriots without Tom Brady looked very much like the New England Patriots with him.Jimmy Garoppolo made his first NFL start in place of Brady, who sat out Game 1 of his four-game Deflategate ban Sunday night -- and the third-year QB led the Patriots to a 23-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.The Patriots, also without injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, ran the ball nearly half the time -- they threw 65 percent of the time last season -- but in many ways, this offense didnt look much different with Garoppolo at the helm.His final stats: 24 for 33 for 264 yards and a touchdown (on his first drive) along with 12 yards rushing and -- get this -- one pass catch. He caught a ball that was deflected back to him by a Cardinals lineman and took it for a three-yard gain. Most telling: On third down, Garoppolo went 8 for 10 for 107 yards and seven first downs.Arizonas Larry Fitzgerald (two TDs) caught three of his eight passes on the closing drive to help the Cardinals reach field-goal range with 41 seconds left. But a low snap from Kameron Canaday led to a wide-left miss from 47 yards by Chandler Catanzaro.After a day in which every other team in the AFC East lost, the Patriots headed back home in a familiar spot -- first place. Theyll play their next three games, all without Brady, at home.In case you missed it, here are the other top topics after the NFL seasons opening Sunday:MAKING A POINT (OR TWO): If the opening Sunday of the NFL season is a day for making statements, then consider the Oakland Raiders and their coach, Jack Del Rio, to have spoken the loudest. When the Raiders got the ball, trailing New Orleans by seven, Del Rio let his team know theyd be going for a win, not a tie and overtime, after they scored a touchdown. After Derek Carr moved Oakland downfield for that touchdown with 47 seconds left, Del Rio stuck to his word -- going for 2, even when the book says to take the tie. Carr threw to Michael Crabtree, who reached over Ken Crawley and made the grab. Oakland won 35-34. I didnt really ask for any feedback there, Del Rio said of his game-winning decision.ANTHEMS: The most visible signs of protest during national anthems played across the league on the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks came from Kansas City cornerback Marcus Peters , who raised a black-gloved fist in a gesture reminiscent of what sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos did at the Olympics in 1968. Later, four Miami Dolphins kneeled on the sideline with hands on their hearts while The Star Spangled Banner played in Seattle. On the opposite sideline, a different scene: The Seahawks listened to the anthem with their arms interlocked. San Francisco backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick inspired the debate by taking a knee before preseason games to call attention to what he termed the oppression of blacks and other minorities. I still have some family in the struggle, Peters said. All Im saying is we want to educate those, the youth thats coming up.CLOCK WATCH: With no timeouts and the clock ticking under 10 seconds, Cowboys receiver Terrance Williams shouldve veered toward the sideline but didnt. It cost Dallas a chance at a long game-winning field goal attempt. This benefited the Giants, who held on 20-19, and didnt have to relive another clock-induced nightmare in Big D. In last years season-opener, Eli Manning mismanaged the clock near the Dallas goal line and settled for a field goal that gave the Cowboys the ball with enough time to drive for the winning score. The Giants went on to lose four more games after clock problems last season. The guy was trying to make a play, Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott said of Williams. You never want to knock a guy trying to make a play. If only social media were as kind.COMEBACK KIDS: In 2015, the Chiefs started 1-5 and won 10 straight to make the playoffs. To kick off 2016, they started down 24-3 and scored 30 of the next 33 to get a win. Kansas City topped San Diego 33-27 in overtime. It was the biggest comeback in the 56-year history of the Chiefs. Youre going to have games like this that show your character, show your grit, coach Andy Reid said. Im proud of the way they handled it.GAMES PEOPLE PLAY: Those who had Chargers receiver Keenan Allen on their fantasy roster might want to look at the waiver wire. Allen hurt his right knee against the Chiefs and had to be carted off the field. The Chargers had already lost receiver Stevie Johnson to a knee injury; Johnson caught 45 passes last season. Meanwhile, more than 30 percent of those who play in survivor pools breathed a huge sigh of relief when Russell Wilson led the Seahawks on a late touchdown drive for a come-from-behind 12-10 victory over Miami. The Seahawks were the biggest favorite of the week, at 10.5 points.---Follow Eddie Pells on Twitter at http://twitter.com/epells---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFLCustom New York Giants Jerseys .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Dexter Lawrence Womens Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. http://www.giantsrookiestore.com/Giants-Harry-Carson-Jersey/ . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Michael Strahan Youth Jersey . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Carl Banks Womens Jersey .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Another strange game for the Los Angeles Angels.After a delay because of a swarm of bees at home the day before, the Angels started their final road trip with a 3-2 loss to AL West-leading Texas, which won in its last at-bat Monday night. That was after a late rain delay in a game that also had malfunctioning phones in the Los Angeles bullpen and the ejection of the Rangers manager when an apparent Angels out became a double.The last few games for us have been kind of weird, center fielder Mike Trout said. It was a crazy day today. Its a tough one to lose.Angels reliever Jose Alvarez (1-3) had gotten out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth after the 38-minute delay caused by a popup shower. But the lefty gave up three consecutive hits to start the ninth, with Elvis Andrus leading off with a sharp single and moving up on a bunt single by Carlos Gomez before Ian Desmonds game-ending RBI single.Right after play resumed in the eighth, Texas loaded the bases, and manager Mike Scioscia became clearly annoyed because the phones werent operating properly. He had to confer with umpires and come out of the dugout to signal the bullpen to start warming up. Eventually, Alvarez became the sixth pitcher and got the final two outs to end the Rangers threat.We couldnt get some information to those guys. So we have to bring some smoke signals next time, I guess, Scioscia said.There was also the wild play in the sixth when Yunel Escobar was thrown out by several feet trying to stretch his hit into a triple, then motioned toward the outfield. Scioscia challenged that the ball had become lodged underneath the padding on the wall in right-center field and should have been ruled dead, as per the ground rules for the Rangers ballpark.We thought that someone put their hands up like it was out of play. I think thats what (Escobar) saw, Scioscia said. He kind of stutter-stepped and slowed down.Texas manager Jeff Banister was ejected when he came out to get an explanation and kept questioning crew chief and second base umpire Joe West after Escobar was put at second base. The replay showed rightt fielder Mazara played the ball and never indicated it was wedged under the padding.ddddddddddddFrom the infield you cant tell if its stuck. ... But when we went to replay, they said it stuck. So its plain and simple a ground-rule double, West told a pool reporter after the game.Trout followed with a triple into the right-field corner to tie the game 1-1. The Angels went ahead in the seventh when Jefry Marte was hit by a pitch and scored on a two-out double by Carlos Perez.But Andrus homered in the seventh, a ball that barely cleared the 8-foot wall in center, to tie the game at 2-2.When Andrus scored the winning run, the Rangers had their MLB-best 46th come-from-behind victory -- the 20th in their last at-bat.That has been our DNA this year, Andrus said. We didnt give up until the last out, until the last pitch, and its contagious.ANOTHER EJECTIONRangers 1B Mitch Moreland was ejected after taking a called third strike to end the fourth inning, on a pitch that appeared to be well outside. While he had some words with home plate umpire Kerwin Danley as he walked back to the dugout, there were no demonstrative actions by Moreland before his first ejection in his 764 career games.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: Starting pitcher Jhouyls Chacin was struck on the left shin by a hard comebacker in the fourth. The ball ricocheted to first baseman C.J. Cron for the second out in the inning. Chacin remained on the ground for several minutes, then made a few warmup tosses before staying in the game. Chacin allowed one run over five innings while throwing 91 pitches, 29 after getting hit.Jhoulys pitched a good game. I think he had a real good shad real good movement on it, Scioscia said. When he got hit in the leg it took something out of hi