New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) dives into the end zone for a touchdown past Houston Texans linebacker Max Bullough (53) during the first half of last night’s game. AP Photo
By Steve Krause
FOXBOROUGH — First of all, let’s not get carried away. There is not a quarterback controversy on the New England Patriots now, and there hasn’t been since Tom Brady unseated Drew Bledsoe in 2001.
Come Week 5, when the Patriots take the field, Brady will be your quarterback unless he gets hurt in practice. What happens with Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett will play itself out, and however it does, one thing will be certain: the Patriots will be left with a quarterback who shows signs of being able to win in the National Football League.
Not in a million years would any sane person have predicted a 27-0 shutout over the Houston Texans last night. It took until right before game time for the numbers to shift so that the Patriots kicked off as favorites and not underdogs.
Brissett, starting his first game three weeks into his first season, wasn’t asked to do a tremendous amount (though that 27-yard run with 1:54 to go in the first quarter isn’t anything Brady’s done recently). For the most part, he was asked to manage the game and keep the Patriots out of disastrous situations. And he did just that. He didn’t turn the ball over, and if the team went backwards during any of its offensive possessions, it wasn’t because of him. He played an efficient game, and as both coach Bill Belichick and former coach Bill Parcells used to warn, “don’t make reservations in Canton just yet.”
Belichick often talks about playing well in all three phases of the game. Obviously two of them are offense and defense. The Patriots played well enough on offense, even though Houston had the ball longer and actually outgained them in total yards, 284-282; and had 19 first downs to New England’s 15.
It goes without saying the Patriots played well on defense because not only did the Texans fail to score, they failed to cross the 50 until the fourth quarter.
Phase No. 3 is special teams, and that’s where it all came together for the Patriots.
“It seemed as if every time Houston got the ball, they had to go 90 yards for a touchdown,” said Belichick, who called the Patriots’ special teams play “tremendous.”
There were several factors. One was coverage. Not only did the Patriots wrap up the returners inside the 25 every time Stephen Gostkowski kicked short (and since he boomed several deep into the end zone, one has to assume those short kicks were intentional), the coverage team induced two fumbles, both recovered by the Patriots.
Houston does have a good defense, and the Patriots knew they were going to do their share of punting. In fact, Ryan Allen punted seven times — one more time than Houston did. But Allen averaged 47.6 yards a kick.
“I don’t think they returned one, did they?” asked Matthew Slater, special teams captain. “I think they fair caught all of them.”
They did … and most of them well inside the 20.
Truth be told, you can chalk this win up to special teams. It’s pretty easy to play when your opponent is pinned deep in his own territory every time he looks up.
If this game proves anything, it proves that when it comes to quarterbacks, the Patriots have an embarrassment of riches. It’s hard to see how they can afford to keep all three going forward. But until they have to make that decision, it’s pretty evident that the Patriots have plenty of insurance should Brady get hurt later on in the season.
Meantime, the Buffalo Bills, next week’s opponent, have to go to Arizona Sunday, which means it’s pretty likely they’ll be coming into Foxborough 0-3 while the Pats take the field 3-0.
Raise your hands, anyone who thought the Patriots would make it through Brady’s four-game suspension undefeated.