New England Patriots: How will Jimmy Garoppolo handle the pressure?
How will Jimmy Garoppolo handle the heat that Rex Ryan will throw at him in Week 4?
While Tom Brady posts a successful win-loss record against Rex Ryan coached teams, in many of those games he has struggled to decipher what is in front of him. With Brady watching Sunday’s game (hopefully fully clothed), the question becomes how will Jimmy Garoppolo handle the fronts that Ryan will throw at him. A matchup against a young quarterback just coming off an injury is just the sort of thing that Ryan loves to take advantage of.
In the past three games we have seen Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett running modified versions of the Brady offense that has been so effective. Garoppolo’s is closer to the original system, however, it appears as though certain elements such as making pre-snap adjustments and pre-determined reads have been streamlined for the young players. For Garoppolo he has had two very different challenges so far, he faced a fast and athletic defense in Arizona while the Miami unit was powerful and physical, so much so that it knocked him out of the next game against the Texans.
Against Buffalo the primary challenge will come at the line of scrimmage as he has to decipher the look that Ryan is giving him. Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated described Ryan as a schemer that can bring pressure from anywhere and disguise who would be coming after the quarterback. There will be extra rushers sent his way in obvious passing situations and the first task on those plays will be to work out where the pressure is coming from. If he misreads a blitz it could leave a free rusher coming at him, giving the defender a free shot at Garoppolo.
While it has been two weeks since his initial injury and Garoppolo would not take the field without medical clearance, any hit will cause a certain amount of concern about his shoulder holding up. With Brissett also battling a thumb injury sustained in the game against the Texans.
The primary challenge for Jimmy Garoppolo this Sunday will be deciphering the pressure that the blitz happy Rex Ryan will throw at him. It will be a test of his mental acumen and whether or not he can stand up to the pressure with his shoulder injury. With his backup also injured the Patriots just need to get them through this week before Tom Brady returns to the facility Monday morning.
Stay tuned here on Musket Fire this weekend as we deliver you engaging content including players to watch, worries entering Sunday’s game and Sunday morning thoughts.