Under Bill Belichick the New England Patriots have, in many ways, mastered the art of getting headlining performances out of understudies.
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What they have now is all they’ve got, and a team playing with its third quarterback just reminded them where they sit.
The Atlanta Falcons’ first win came in a 35-28 defeat of the Oakland Raiders, the Los Angeles Rams recovered from their Monday night horror show to stun the Seattle Seahawks 9-3 and the Pittsburgh Steelers overcame the Cincinnati Bengals 24-16.
First, it was Jimmy Garoppolo’s turn to be that man, taking over at quarterback while Tom Brady served his four-game suspension. With the Pats’ looking to find some help now, signing a player that can come in and play now if needed is essential, especially with the Houston Texans game being played on Thursday night.
Garoppolo was injured when he was hit making a throw and taken to the ground by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso with 4:02 left in the first half. Garoppolo barely was able to move his shoulder as he walked off the field.
Garoppolo left Sunday’s game with a right shoulder injury. New England had no option but to place rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett at the helm.
Brissett may well be the starting quarterback on Thursday when the Patriots host the Houston Texans at Foxborough. The Dolphins trailed 31-3 before showing up for work.
“We have a six-car tailgate”, said Grant Henderson, of Dorchester. “We had some opportunities”. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Titans.
“It’s not magic. It’s just instinctive”, the running back said after he’d leapt over Miami cornerback Byron Maxwell en route to a 26-yard run in the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 31-24 win at Gillette Stadium. Garoppolo could be back for the team’s following game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. He was replaced by rookie Jacoby Brissett, a South Florida native who found himself facing essentially his hometown team in his pro debut.
“You know what? It’s always frustrating to lose any player at any position. Unfortunately that’s part of this game”, Edelman said.
Update (5:20 EST): Jimmy Garoppolo is still undergoing tests, but the early belief is that he will be out for 6-8 weeks, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.
New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo had a pretty good reason for having his team kneel on the ball three times at the two-yard line after Victor Cruz’s 34-yard reception with under two minutes remaining. “I obviously have to get better, but we did enough in all three phrases to help lead to this victory”. But that doesn’t fully explain why the Miami offense started clicking after halftime – a little too late. Regardless, the design and the agility of the offensive game plans the Patriots have used in their two victories so far this season bear the mark of brilliance.
“I need to figure out a way to get our guys in rhythm earlier”, Gase said.
RETURNING RECEIVER: The return of DeVante Parker gave the Dolphins’ offense a boost. Gronkowski has been dealing with a hamstring issue and also missed the opener. Cameron ended with five receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Blount also made an wonderful play when he hurdled a defender for the second game in a row – this time Miami’s Byron Maxwell.
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“If you’re going to play a team that’s going to run the ball, we have to do a better job of letting them have less plays during the game”, he said.
