Fantasy Impact It was a tale of two halves for the Patriots defense on Sunday. But it also left with yet another quarterback issue to resolve after Jimmy Garoppolo had a Tom Brady-light performance halted by a right shoulder injury.
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Chargers 38, Jaguars 14 • Philip Rivers threw four touchdown passes, two to Travis Benjamin, and Melvin Gordon ran for a TD and had his first 100-yard game as San Diego rolled at home.
Elsewhere, the Browns appear to have survived a QB injury scare of their own against the Baltimore Ravens, though they could not survive a ferocious second-half comeback by the Ravens. Edelman said the same work put in getting on the same page with Garoppolo must now transfer to Brissett. But we had to take the ball away at the end there to secure it, so we didn’t quite get the execution that we needed across the board. Aqib Talib’s interception return for a touchdown in Denver’s 34-20 win over Indianapolis was the ninth score of his career and fifth with the Broncos, a team record.
And the Dolphins? It sounds tough of Gase to say he’d send some players packing. Let’s build off this.’ That (stuff) is over with.
TIGHT END Rob Gronkowski was inactive for the game.
This was as winnable as a trip to Foxborough can be. By halftime, the Patriots (2-0) had 17 first downs and 290 yards compared to seven first downs for the Dolphins and 149 yards.
With Garoppolo nearly certain to miss at least one game and Tom Brady not eligible to return from his Deflategate suspension until Week 5, the Patriots will start either rookie Jacoby Brissett or someone who now is not on their roster when they host the Houston Texans on Thursday night.
By the Patriots’ final drive Sunday, the Patriots had the look of a pick-up team. For them, reps with Brissett were limited. “The second half of us being able to get up on the ball and go, get completions and run the ball, those types of things. that’s what we need to do in the first half”. “I don’t know if he will or not”, Zimmer said. “It’s football and everyone’s just gotta do their job a little bit better”. Really, the Patriots offense looks unchanged with Garoppolo under center. “I love you and I will always be a Pat for life”, he said. That’s the kind of injury you can come back even in the same game or a week or two. That last drive we didn’t get off the field.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – New England, Gostkowski 39.
That left the Dolphins 1:04 to go 71 yards without any timeouts.
Garoppolo had completed 18-of-27 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game. With Washington leading 23-20 late in the game, Kirk Cousins was intercepted in the end zone by Barry Church and Dallas drove downfield to win it 27-23 with Alfred Morris’ touchdown run.
There was another potential turning point when Alonso recovered a New England fumble in the middle of the field, but Miami wasted that a minute later when Landry coughed it up.
Blount also made an fantastic play when he hurdled a defender for the second game in a row – this time Miami’s Byron Maxwell. “We just have to keep him healthy and on the field”. “We’ve gotta match their points”. “We just didn’t do enough”.
They aren’t matching New England in the standings, either. So the Dolphins had a chance to win a game against a third-string quarterback. Instead of pulling even, they’re already two games behind. The roster pretty much is what it is.
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All-Pro running back Doug Martin left the game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a hamstring injury. Wide receiver DeVante Parker and defensive end Mario Williams were both back from injuries. If you think that means the Texans are going to take the Patriots lightly, you’d be wrong.
