Who would've thought that the New England Patriots would be at a 3-0 start without one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Tom Brady. Of course Brady was suspended for the first four games of this years regular season due to deflategate. Many Patriots fans were not happy because they feel like Roger Godell won the fight against Brady. Brady finally gave up, which was a very good decision to stop the deflategate saga. Brady is elgible to come back week 5 against the Cleveland Browns. Jimmy Garoppolo played two games against the Arizona Cardinals ( in Arizona) and Miami Week 2 at Gillette Stadium. Fans had no idea how Garoppolo would do in a tough place in Arizona and just in general. He played very well including throwing a touchdown during one of the opening drives to new wide out Chris Hogan. After that game, I think it brought big confidence to Jimmy's game. In the whole game, Garoppolo finished 18 for 26 with 3 passing touchdowns. 1 to another newcomer in tight end Martellus Bennett whose already made a huge impact in both the run blocking and passing game. 2 other touchdowns were to Wide Reciever Danny Amendola whose one of the top 3 wide recievers alongside Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan. Garoppolo unfortunately got hurt to what looked like a severe shoulder injury I haven't even mentioned All Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronk is arguably the most dominating force on that offense. He's been battling a hamstring since August and he still hasn't been 100% although he did return last night which of course is a very good sign. I really think that once Brady comes back, hopefully Gronk will be back 100% healthy. In Week 3, the Patriots were facing a very tough Houston Texans offense and defensive team on a short week for both teams. The Patriots had a very good feeling that they would be without their starting quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo with a shoulder injury. Before Thursdays game was about to start, they ruled out Jimmy Garoppolo. As a Patriots fan, this came to no suprise but with the coaching of Bill Belicheck, I was confident that Brissett can get the job done. Brissett did just that as he went only 11 for 19 through the air, but he did also very well with his feet. After the Patriots settled with a field goal to make it 3-0, on the next kickoff the Texans fumbled the ball and the Patriots recovered it. After recovering the fumble, Brisett ran for a 27 yard touchdown and made it a 10 point game. The Patriots defense who struggled in the second half in week 2 against Miami, bounced back against two very good wide recievers in Deandre Hopkins and Will Fuller. Guys like Cornerback Malcom Butler and Linebacker Jamie Collins really had a good bounce back game. Patriots ended up winning 27-0. Patriots feared that they mightve lost another quarterback due to injury. Jacoby Brissett who's dealing with a sprained thumb, feared that they he mightve suffered a torn thumb ligament. After hearing from multiple sources though, the Patriots could have both Garoppolo and Brissett ready for next game against the Buffalo Bills.
In conclusion, the Patriots have played with a 3-0 record with no Tom Brady. No Patriot fan including myself really expected a 3-0 record coming into this season. This is definately the start that the Patriots wanted. It also shows Roger Godell that suspending Tom Brady won't affect this team at all.
