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Christmas came a little early for the Patriots on Monday night.
The urgency to beat Buffalo in the regular season finale next Sunday at Gillette Stadium disappeared in a driving rainstorm at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Two late interceptions by Dre Kirkpatrick, one of which was returned for a touchdown, the other one sealing the win, were critical in the Cincinnati Bengals defeating the Denver Broncos, 37-28 on the final Monday Night Football game of the year.
The Denver loss clinched home field throughout the AFC playoffs for the Patriots. The Cincinnati win clinched a playoff berth for the Bengals, and they can win the AFC North with a win next week at Pittsburgh. If Cincinnati wins and Denver loses to or ties Oakland, the Bengals would be the two seed behind the Patriots.
With the Patriots having now assured themselves of the road to the Super Bowl going through Gillette Stadium, and with Buffalo having been eliminated on Sunday by losing at Oakland, Sunday's game becomes literally an August game. Buffalo may have a "get on the bus" mentality, as do most prohibitive road dogs who are not playoff bound in the regular season finale. The only thing either team, especially the Patriots, have to concern themselves with is not suffering any needless or catastrophic injuries.
At the top of the list of players to protect for the Patriots is, obviously, Tom Brady. The Patriots have been given a wonderful gift from the Bengals, allowing the Patriots literally two bye weeks to prepare for a Divisional Playoff game. In planning for that game, especially in that you don't know who you will be playing, player rest and protection has to be at the top of the list at this time. Brady is the one Patriot who cannot be at risk for any sort of injury in a meaningless regular season finale.
The Patriots should treat next Sunday's game against Buffalo as if it were the fourth preseason game. Regulars should not get anywhere near game action unless Bill Belichick deems it absolutely necessary for them to get some game reps in. Players like Chandler Jones, Dont'a Hightower and Julian Edelman, who have been nursing recent injuries, should see zero game action. Not just a little, but zero.
It is therefore time for Belichick and Josh McDaniels to see what the future of the team holds. Jimmy Garoppolo should start the game at quarterback and play the whole game.
 With the Patriots having locked up the top AFC playoff seed, Jimmy Garoppolo should start and play the entire regular season finale this Sunday against Buffalo. (USA TODAY Images) |
Brady generally takes the fourth preseason game off anyway. Even allowing him to play in one or two offensive series is far too much risk to assume. The Patriots have a better than average chance to get to Super Bowl XLIX, and preserving Brady for the playoffs is paramount.
Meanwhile, this is the chance to see Garoppolo in a way that is not normally possible. It is a golden opportunity for both the Patriots and Garoppolo. Beginning right away with Wednesday practice, he should take first team reps, get into the flow of the week like Brady does, see how well he understands the game plan, and take note of how he reacts from a leadership standpoint.
Of course, Brady isn't the only one who should rest. The Patriots can rest other key players like Rob Gronkowski, Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, Vince Wilfork, Rob Ninkovich, and Devin McCourty. None of these players needs to play on Sunday. Let them take their reps at practice all week, but keep them out of the real thing.
In addition to Garoppolo, here are some other areas and players Belichick can examine on Sunday.
Feature Brandon Bolden at running back, Brian Tyms at wide receiver, and Michael Hoomanawanui at tight end. Give Tyms a chance to get fully into the flow of the game, especially if wide receiver depth is needed in the postseason. Hoomanawanui is known more for his blocking, but several targets might do him good also.
Another project for Belichick should be tinkering with the offensive line. The O-line suffered badly against the Jets on Sunday, but that was largely borne out of Dan Connally being out with an injury. Mixing and matching would be a nice project, as long as Garoppolo is not put in harm's way. Buffalo should not be hell bent on stunts and blitz packages in a game like this, so this sort of thing would work well and perhaps give Belichick some options for the postseason he might not have known he had.
If there is one starter who should play most of Sunday's game, it might be strong safety Patrick Chung. His play this season has been good here and there but mostly inconsistent. He could use this game as a chance to hone his cover skills as well as his understanding of where to be at which time.
On defense, players who should get a good looking at are Allan Branch, Akeem Ayers, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon. These players should get a lion's share of playing time, and a chance to experience a starter's mentality like Garoppolo. Just the increased reps alone will help them greatly if they are needed in the postseason.
All things considered, the star of the show on Sunday has to be Garoppolo. He is the key guy on Sunday. He has to be Brady this week. Not only should Belichick consider this option, it should be mandatory. The most game action Garoppolo has seen was in Week 4 in a mopup job at Kansas City. Garoppolo has looked mostly good in what little action he has seen both in preseason and the regular season. Give him an entire regular season game, and the whole franchise benefits both short term and long term.
The Patriots can certainly extend holiday greetings and appropriate platitudes to Mike Brown, Marvin Lewis and the entire Cincinnati franchise for beating Denver on Monday night. Of course, Cincinnati could return the favor by coming to Gillette Stadium in January and doing to the Patriots what the Jets did in 2010 when the Patriots were the one seed back then. But for now, with the one seed in their back pocket, the Patriots and their fans can rest easy as the holidays envelop everyone this week.
The Patriots got their gift. Now, Garoppolo needs to get his.
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