New England Patriots’ Jimmy Garoppolo Shows Serious Potential In Week 17 Loss
By Kevin McHugh
@Mchughinthebean
Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
The New England Patriots deactivated many of their banged-up and injury-prone players for Week 17, including Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Dont’a Hightower, Dan Connolly, Sebastian Vollmer and Brandon Browner. The absence of these players was extremely noticeable as Tom Brady struggled to find targets and received extremely heavy pressure in a 9-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
With a Buffalo defense relentlessly harassing Brady and his offensive line in the first half, coach Bill Belichick elected to play rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the second half. The kid out-passed Tommy Legend in yards 90-80 with 16 rushing yards.
Garappolo displayed some athleticism, scrambling in the pocket and even taking the ball himself several times for some eye-popping plays. This is a refreshing new skill at the quarterback position for Patriots fans who have become accustomed to the lethargic legs of Brady. Belichick must have seen something in the Garoppolo, given the future Hall-of-Fame coach’s track record in selecting quarterbacks. Despite a promising performance by Garappolo, however, a playoff appearance is rather unlikely.
That said, it should give Patriots fans something to look forward to as the Brady era continues into its twilight years. The Patriots should be a shoo-in for the Super Bowl with the best defense the franchise has seen in over a decade. The offense will get itself going with dangerous offensive weapons such as Gronkowski and Edelman. Should something unfortunate happens to Brady, fans can be rest assured that Garoppolo has the skills to take this offense and run with it.
Kevin McHugh is a Boston Celtics writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MchughintheBean or add him to your network on Google.
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