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It's time for Jimmy Garoppolo to re-warm up that right arm of his. One year after he initially believed he would get a chance to start the first four games of the season for the Patriots -- and get a chance to leave his first real imprint and impression on the league -- Garoppolo will finally get that chance.

Tom Brady is suspended (again). Deflategate is back (again). The Patriots are (once again) facing the opening four-game stretch to the season without their quarterback.

The last time this played out, a year ago, Brady's suspension was overturned and he ended up leading the Patriots to a perfect 4-0 start that eventually turned into a 10-0 record. This time, well, we don't know how it'll play out legally. But if Brady does miss those first four games -- and for now, let's assume that he will be absent --- this is what we know about the Patriots' first four games of the 2016 season: It includes two games against playoff teams and two games played in primetime, and two divisional games.

Jimmy Garoppolo will be pressed into action against two playoff teams. (USATSI)

Let's take a deeper look at that stretch:

Week 1: at Arizona on Sunday Night Football

A juicy matchup when the league first announced the schedule, the first Sunday Night Football game of 2016 could turn into a disaster. Not only will the Patriots be Brady-less, but they'll also be playing in Arizona against the Cardinals -- a team that went 13-3 a season ago and came up a game short of the Super Bowl, like the Patriots.

To be clear, a Patriots team sans Brady should be a mismatch for the defending NFC West champs. By both yards and points, Arizona featured a top-10 defense last year. They forced the second-most turnovers with 33.

Reminder: Jimmy Garoppolo has never started an NFL game in his life.

Week 2: vs. Miami

This is obviously a more favorable matchup for the Patriots. Though they lost to the Dolphins at the end of last season, that loss came in Miami. This game will be played in New England, where the Dolphins haven't won since 2008.

Still, the game takes on more importance due to its divisional status.

Week 3: vs. Houston on Thursday Night Football

Another primetime game featuring another playoff team. If Garoppolo thought the Cardinals defense was tough, now he'll have to keep a constant eye on J.J. Watt on the other side of the line.

The Texans are coming off a nine-win season and an embarrassing postseason exit, but they did win the AFC South last year. They finished with the fifth-most sacks in the league. And, they think they have a quarterback, finally.

But their quarterback is Brock Osweiler, who posted an 86.4 passer rating last season. With the Patriots hosting this game at Foxborough, this shouldn't be marked as a presumed loss.

Week 4 vs. Buffalo

The Bills represent another winnable game. It's at home and, by then, Garoppolo could be more acclimated. That doesn't mean it's a cakewalk, though. The Bills won eight games last year. And again, it's a divisional game, which adds more importance.

Let's talk expectations for the entire four-game stretch. A quick glance says 2-2 gets the job done. If Brady can return to a .500 team with zero divisional losses, he'll be in good shape to lead the team back to the postseason. The nice aspect of the schedule is that Brady's first game -- Week 5 -- will come against the Browns, which should serve as a warmup before seeing the Bengals and Steelers.

So, can Garoppolo guide the Patriots to a .500 mark? According to SportsLine, the answer isn't if Garoppolo can win two games, it's if he can win three.

As you can see in the tables above, the Brady suspension only negatively impacts the Patriots by -0.4 losses. In fact, they'll boast a better than 70 percent chance to win three of the four games -- with the only tough matchup coming against the Cardinals.

Based on his somewhat recent comments, Bill Belichick should also feel at least a tad confident.

The four-game ban probably has Belichick feeling gloomy, but there's a potential benefit to the suspension. The Patriots might finally know what they have in Garoppolo, a player they drafted in 2014, but a quarterback who has thrown 31 regular-season passes. That might be beneficial for two specific reasons.

One, the Patriots might view Garoppolo as Brady's successor, which could be unlikely, though, due to the fact that Brady signed a new two-year extension (until 2019) and Garoppolo's contract expires after the 2017 season. And two, the Patriots could always turn Garoppolo into trade bait.

For now, their priority is surviving a four-game stretch without Brady. But, based on the projections and early schedule, that's more than possible for the Belichick-coached team.