Arians: Week 1 loss to Patriots 'biggest reason' for Cardinals' downfall in 2016

Bruce Arians believes the Arizona Cardinals' 2016 season got derailed when it had barely begun.

The Cardinals' Week 1 loss to the Patriots, in which a missed last-minute field goal by kicker Chandler Catanzaro sealed a 23-21 New England victory, cost his team its "swagger" and sent them into a nosedive for the rest of the campaign, the head coach said Wednesday.

"I think the biggest reason was losing the opener on Sunday Night Football to the Patriots on that missed field goal," Arians told "PFT Live," according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "That took a lot of swagger out of our football team, then we came back and lost to the Rams in another close game. We didn't win the close games we had won in the past but it all goes back to that first one."

Arizona lost two of its next three games and never looked like the Super Bowl contender most expected it to be, ending the year 7-8-1 and out of the playoffs.

However, the Cardinals returned most of their roster, clearly hoping to recapture the 2015 magic that the Patriots seemingly robbed them of last year.