As the New England Patriots take a 10-7 lead into the half, here are some first half thoughts.

After a strong defensive stand to start the game, Jimmy Garoppolo and the offense took the ball for the first time in the season.

While many people have doubted if the banged up Patriots offense could produce against the Cardinal defense, the Pats came out with an effortless flow to start their night.

The first time starter, Garoppolo, methodically led New England down the field, hitting top target Julian Edelman multiple times to move the sticks.

With a solid mix of run and short pass plays at the start of the drive sucking the defense in tight, a terrific play call by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, sending wide out Chris Hogan on a deep "Go" route, gave the Pats the early 7-0 lead.

On eight plays, Jimmy G  and company quickly quieted the critics, going 74 yards for the score. On the drive, Garoppolo completed  four of five pass attempts for 75 yards, including three completions for 38 yards to Edelman and the 37-yard TD to Hogan to cap the drive.

From there the defense forced another quick stop to give the ball back to New England's offense, who again put together a quality drive.

Though their second go around with the ball was stalled just outside of the Arizona 30-yard line, Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski was able to tack onto the lead with a 47-yard field goal.

After the quick start, the Pats offense hit a bit of a snag midway through the second quarter, as the blocking slipped up a bit leaving Garoppolo with little time to find a receiver.

Their third drive resulted in the only real mistake of the game so far, as Garoppolo was stripped and former Patriot Chandler Jones recovered the football deep in the New England zone.

The Pats defense was unable to stop Cardinals running back David Johnson in the short field, as Arizona cut into the lead making the score 10-7.

All in all, the first half was a huge success for New England. Tremendous play calling on offense, combined with pretty solid execution early on got the team out on top by 10 and made Garoppolo look pretty good.

The defense also has played really well, largely taking away Arizona's deep passing game, with the exception of a couple of completions against Malcolm Butler. If they continue the strong effort and find a way to force at least one turnover, New England should be on their way to a win.

Keep an eye on the offense in the second half though. It appeared that they started to play it a little safe after that strip sack in the second.

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