Sunday night the New England Patriots had a win for the ages against a team that they have always had a tough time playing. I’m talking about how kicker Stephen Gostkowski booted the game winning field goal that helped the Patriots beat the Giants, 27-26, with 1 second left. The Patriots now advance to 9-0, with their next opponent being the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Monday night.
Amongst all the celebration, there is some dark news. Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman went down in the first quarter of the game. He was seen limping off the field and did not return for rest of the game. News has been released that states that Edelman had broken his foot and may be out 6-8 weeks.
Julian Edelman suffered a "significant" foot injury but "time loss is undetermined". Another source believed Edelman could return this year.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 16, 2015
This is the last thing the Patriots needed. The injuries have been stacking up against them and they have been having to find quick solutions to the problem.
For instance, when running back Dion Lewis tore his ACL the Patriots gave other running back LeGarrette Blount a much bigger role in the run game. Now a tougher question has been raised; Who will replace Edelman? As we have seen with Lewis and Blount, the Patriots like to have a “next man up” system, which means when one player is out they just insert another player that can hold the position until the primary player comes back.
This, however is different. Edelman was the Patriots top wide receiver and it was no secret that him and Brady are close friends.
When Tom Brady was asked in an interview why he looked sad after such a tense win, he said “I think I was pretty tired because it was pretty emotional and I was certainly bummed to hear about Julian, just because of how great of a player he is. I just feel terrible for him.”
Clearly Brady is quite hurt by knowing that a close friend and teammate of his won’t be finishing off the regular season with him.
So what comes next? That is, after all, what many Patriots fans are wondering.
Edelman was a big playmaker for the team, and he contributed to a lot of the wins this season in big plays resulting in either big first downs or touchdowns. Many people are saying that the most likely person to step up will be Danny Amendola, which is what people saw for the rest of the Giants game. But will it be enough?
What concerns many people is the similarities between Edelman and Jordy Nelson, wide receiver of the Green Bay Packers. Jordy Nelson was the big play maker of the Packers and he was the quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ top target. Nelson was ruled out for the season when he tore his ACL. Ever since then, the Packers offense hasn’t been the same force they used to be. They are currently on a three-game losing streak.
So will Brady end up like Rodgers and begin to feel unsure, or will he step up to the plate and show the world how strong the Patriots are and no injuries can stop them?
We will have to wait and see.