Rookie quarterback Jacoby Brisset leads New England Patriots to dominant win over hapless Houston Texans
With Tom Brady suspended and Jimmy Garoppolo injured, 23-year-old Brisset steps in and scores opening touchdown and completes 11 of 19 passes for 103 yards
Maybe Texans safety Andre Hal thought Jacoby Brissett would run out of bounds at the 5 in the first quarter of his first NFL start.
After all, with Tom Brady suspended and Jimmy Garoppolo injured, the Patriots didn’t have any other quarterbacks on the roster to call upon if the 23-year-old rookie got hurt.
As his teammates rushed to celebrate with him, the stadium public address blasted out The Doors: “Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name.”
Brissett went on to complete 11 of 19 passes for 103 yards, and ran for 48 yards on eight carries for the Patriots on Thursday night as they took advantage of three Houston turnovers to beat the Texans 27-0. The 27-yard touchdown run was the longest for a Patriots quarterback since 1976.
New England improved to 3-0 without Brady, who has one game remaining on his “Deflategate” suspension.
It was quite an introduction for Brissett, who came on in relief of Garoppolo against Miami on Sunday and four days later became the first rookie quarterback to start for the Patriots since Drew Bledsoe in 1993 – and the first black player to start at QB in the franchise’s history .
Brady led the Patriots to the Super Bowl title that year – and three more – relinquishing the job only in 2008, when he was injured, and again this year when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell benched him four games for his role in a scheme to use improperly inflated footballs in the 2015 AFC title game.
Brissett made his NFL debut in relief of Garoppolo, who was slammed to the turf by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso on Sunday, a 31-24 Patriots victory. Brissett completed 6 of 9 passes for 92 yards against Miami but it wasn’t clear he would get the start until Garoppolo was on the inactive list when it was released 90 minutes before kickoff.
