Cardinals GM Steve Keim Comments on Loss to Patriots, Jimmy Garoppolo

Losing to the New England Patriots at home by two points isn't a disastrous way to start the 2016 regular season, but don't tell that to Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim.

In an interview Monday with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (via Ben Flores of ArizonaSports.com), Keim spoke about what he felt was a failure for the Cardinals to execute their game plan:

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Just the lack of execution. Just throughout the week, the plan that was in place, we felt pretty strongly what they were going to do strictly offensively and we just didn't execute. You wake up Monday morning with a loss, you're angry, disappointed and embarrassed, and that's the way we should all feel. Just didn't get it done and there were a lot of reasons we didn't get it done and that certainly needs to improve and it’s unacceptable.

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Keim also said he was frustrated with Arizona's defense and the fact the unit allowed Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to find a comfort zone in his first NFL start:

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Defensively very frustrating. Third down defense, I think we all know what the numbers are there. We knew it’d be hard to get to Garoppolo because most of it was going to be three-step drop and he was going to get the ball out of his hands but the intuition that we played with, the isolations that they got with some of their inside slot receivers on safeties, the lack of leverage, the inability to tackle in space, those were all extremely disappointing, and a major reason why we were 10-for-16 (on third down defense).

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Garoppolo finished the game 24-of-33 for 264 yards and a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, he helped drive New England down the field to get into position for what proved to be the game-winning score. With 3:44 remaining in the game, Stephen Gostkowski connected on a 32-yard field goal.

Football Outsiders' Cian Fahey was quick to put Garoppolo's performance in perspective, though:

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Lord. Garoppolo had two impressive plays and was then competent in a protected role. Win is about BB, not JG. https://t.co/xbdVar8txg

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) September 12, 2016"

Expectations are high in Arizona this year. The Cardinals reached the NFC Championship Game last year, and according to Odds Shark, they had the fourth-best Super Bowl odds (10-1) heading into Week 1.

In addition to Tom Brady, New England was without tight end Rob Gronkowski, which Keim thought made Sunday's result even worse.

"Not when you're playing a backup quarterback who is missing some playmakers and it's a game at home," he said when asked whether Week 1 could be categorized as a good loss, via Flores. "Our mindset is you cannot lose those home games in front of our crowd."

Head coach Bruce Arians also took his team to task, naming players by name during his Monday press conference, via Bob McManaman of AZCentral.com.

Arians said cornerback Justin Bethel was an "average spectator" playing on an injured foot, noting that "if he's going to play, he needs to play better or he shouldn't play."

Linebacker Chandler Jones also caught criticism from Arians for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, saying it "will not happen again—or you won't be here."

Finally, Arians said rookie Robert Nkemdiche was "poor," and other than jumping offsides, he "was not a factor."

The Cardinals welcome in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Week 2. Although Tampa Bay is coming off a 31-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona will be expected to win.

While an 0-2 start wouldn't be the end of the world for the Cardinals, they won't want to follow up their opening-week defeat with another lackluster showing. Should that happen, Keim's critique would likely be even more searing this time next Monday.