FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One of the unsung stories of the New England Patriots' 23-21 season-opening victory over the Arizona Cardinals was the fill-in performance of third-year offensive tackle Cameron Fleming.
Bill Belichick made sure to make notice of him in his weekly breakdown of top plays from a victory on the team's official website.
"Cam did a great job filling in for Nate Solder," Belichick said. "When you kind of go through the game and nobody talks about an offensive lineman, that's generally a pretty good thing."
In noting Fleming's work, Belichick showed one of his cut blocks that helped set up a 5-yard completion to tight end Martellus Bennett.
"Our linemen were really aggressive against Arizona," Belichick said.
Belichick's comments came on the heels of Fleming being spotlighted in ESPN.com's "ups" and "downs" blog post after the game. With Solder still limited in practice Wednesday with a hamstring injury, the Patriots could be calling on Fleming again this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
Other plays highlighted by Belichick included:
The team's initial third-down conversion -- a Jimmy Garoppolo pass to Julian Edelman on third-and-10, noting how the routes run by Edelman and fellow receiver Danny Amendola complemented each other.
Garoppolo's 37-yard touchdown pass to receiver Chris Hogan in which Garoppolo spotted single coverage and "made an adjustment" at the line of scrimmage to exploit it.
Highlighting the Patriots' solid conditioning, Belichick felt LeGarrette Blount's power touchdown run was a good example of it (in part because the Cardinals appeared to be laboring), as well as a late fourth-quarter stop of running back Andre Ellington for a 4-yard loss on the Cardinals' final drive.
Belichick showed two plays by the kickoff coverage team on plays when the Cardinals were pinned in deep, starting drives at their own 11 and 8. It starts with "a good ball, with good hang time and good placement, and good team speed [in coverage]."
A pass breakup by Justin Coleman which contributed to competitive third-down defense.