Patriots, fans come out roaring

FOXBOROUGH — I was sure the hidden message on the flip cards would be “Hey, Roger, do you like apples?”

But, no, nothing like that.

If living well is the best revenge, the Patriots could not have had it much better Thursday night. Kicking off the 2015 NFL season, celebrating their fourth Super Bowl in the last 10 years. And with their future Hall of Fame

quarterback wearing his familiar No. 12.

When Tom Brady took the field a little before 8 p.m. for warmups, the crowd roared, as expected.

The Dropkick Murphys kicked off the pregame show with “The Boys Are Back.” Grammy winner Grace Potter sang the National Anthem while an honor guard from the USS Constitution presented the colors. A giant American flag waved between banners for each of the Patriots’ four Super Bowl titles.

The Patriots won the coin toss and – to the surprise of no one – elected to defer. And when Stephen Gostkowski kicked off to – finally, mercifully – open the 2015 NFL season, the crowd again roared.

For one night the Patriots and their fans could put Deflategate and Spygate and Spyflategate out of their thoughts. This was a chance to focus on football and release all the pent-up angst and aggravation that occurred during the offseason.

The pregame ceremony was somewhat subdued – likely because of the heavy rains that hit the area shortly before, causing the smoke from the accompanying fireworks to somewhat obscure the pageantry.

But the crowd didn’t seem to mind. This game was a chance to forget about the last seven-plus months and focus on the game of football. Not the business of football or the legalese of football.

When Dominique Easley left the game in the first quarter with a hip injury, the crowd hushed. The Pats’ 29th overall pick in 2014 has had trouble staying on the field. The defensive lineman’s rookie season – 11 games, just two starts – was an extension of his college career at Florida, when he was limited to just three games his senior year because of a torn right ACL.

But with 9:40 left in the first quarter, the Patriots had their first possession and the crowd had its first chance to chant “Bray-dee, Bray-dee.” His first completion was to – no surprise – Julian Edelman, his favorite target last season. It was Edelman whose game-winning 3-yard touchdown reception from Brady with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter gave the Pats a 28-24 win over Seattle in Super Bowl XLIX.

When Brady completed his first touchdown pass of the season, a 16-yarder to Rob Gronkowski with 11:11 left in the second quarter, the crowd erupted. Gostkowski’s point after, completing a 90-yard drive, gave the Pats a 7-0 lead.

When the Steelers Josh Scobee missed two first-half field goal attempts – both wide right – the crowd roared.

And when Brady gave Gronk another opportunity for an end zone spike with 4:01 left in the half, giving the Pats a 14-0 lead, the crowd was jubilant. Brady and Gronk extended their franchise-high touchdown connections to 55. It was Gronk’s 15th career multi-touchdown game. That can only mean good things for the Pats and trouble for their opponents. Gronk had 12 touchdowns last season, becoming the first tight end in NFL history to produce four 10-plus touchdown seasons.

Oh, those flip cards? They spelled out “Super Bowl Champs” with the Roman numerals of each of the Pats’ four titles.

So, how do you like them apples?

Maureen Mullen can be reached at mmullen@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MaureenAMullen.

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