​Patriots' Roller-Coaster Day Turns on Jimmy Garoppolo's Performance, Injury

Just when New England Patriots fans thought they'd be safe so long as Jimmy Garoppolo was on the field, the backup quarterback to beloved Tom Brady was taken out of the game with an injury.

Garoppolo and the Patriots came into today's game soaring off their dramatic Week 1 upset of the Arizona Cardinals. But still, the sense lingered that it was Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels, and the Patriots staff who engineered that victory—which was ultimately a last-second, shanked field goal away from not happening.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, earned some plaudits for forcing Russell Wilson to pull out the fourth-quarter heroics in Week 1. Could the Dolphins front seven expose Garoppolo and the Pats' JV offense?

Yes, but not in the way you'd think: Garoppolo was a revelation, completing 18-of-27 for 234 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn't just executing a gameplan or dumping off to superstars racking up yards after the catch. No, Garoppolo was playing great quarterback:

Great job by Garoppolo of using his eyes to manipulate the safety. https://t.co/U8mmrMFglk
— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) September 18, 2016

The Pats roared out to a 21-0 lead, well on their way to starting 2-0 during Tom Brady's four-game suspension. Then, just seconds after shrugging off a sack and throwing for a big gain, Garoppolo was driven into the turf—and knocked out of the game.

Rookie Jacoby Brissett took over, and the Pats finished the drive with a field goal. Brissett just needed to see home a 24-0 lead.

Suddenly, the Dolphins' front seven found their footing, and the Dolphins offense found their mojo. The Dolphins got on the board with a field goal just before halftime, and in the third quarter added a touchdown strike to Kenny Stills. Even though a Dolphins fumble (and series of Dolphins penalties) helped the Pats put another touchdown on the board, the tide had turned.

The Dolphins rolled up three straight touchdowns, cutting the Pats' once insurmountable 24-3 lead down to 31-24. All they needed was one scoring drive from Brissett to put it away; he did everything he needed to do. A 12-play drive set up a 39-yard field goal attempt—but kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed, leaving the door open for Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins to dismantle everything Garoppolo had built.

But Tannehill politely closed that wide-open door on his own, throwing a game-ending pick to Pats safety Duron Harmon.

Pats fans' roller-coaster ride ended on a series of high notes: They closed out the divisional win, moved to 2-0 without Tom Brady, knowing they've potentially got a great young quarterback in the making with Garoppolo. Oh yeah, and MassLive's Kevin Duffy reports that Garoppolo has no broken bones. So there's that.

Even if Brissett is forced to start the next two games—and even if the Patriots lose them both—they're: a.) still on top of the AFC East, b.) are still getting Tom Brady back soon enough, and c.) still have a player who could potentially succeed him as the Pats' franchise quarterback. Chin up, Patriots fans.