Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo had a strong performance in week two, settling in and helping rally New England from a 21-0 deficit en-route to New England’s first preseason win over the year after they beat the Saints 26-24 Saturday night.
Garoppolo was incredibly efficient, missing just two passes in the first half and he made a lot of quick reads and big throws, including one that should certainly hit the highlight reel. That play came on a 24-yard touchdown pass that saw him get wrapped up in the backfield, only to escape, roll out and throw a perfect pass to Chris Harper, which helped spark the team’s comeback.
Overall he finished the night 28-of-33 (85%) for 269 yards, along with a touchdown and an interception.
It was great to see from a Patriots back-up, with Garoppolo bouncing back from an up and down showing last week against the Packers and showing that New England has a strong back-up behind Tom Brady.
As for Brady, he finished just 2-of-5 (40%) for 13-yards, but did so again without Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Brandon LaFell, Scott Chandler, and had substitutes in the game up front on the offensive line. He looked frustrated against the Saints first team defense, with Danny Amendola and Michael Hoomanawanui each failing to come up with a couple of early catches that helped set the tone for a difficult night for the veteran quarterback.
But credit Garoppolo for making progress and putting together a good performance and he had his way against New Orleans back-ups, looking much more confident and precise with each of his throws, which is exactly what they likely hoped to see at this point in the preseason. So far he’s starting to look like a player who can step in if called upon, which is still up in the air as Brady’s future remains in question while his legal battle against the NFL continues.
The team will now return home to get back to work before heading to Carolina to battle the Panthers next Friday night.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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