It's often said that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. What's not often said is that sometimes it's possible to be both.
Patriots second-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo admitted after his team's 17-16 win over the Panthers on Friday night that he benefited from a Few friendly bounces early in the second half when he was nearly intercepted twice.
"Good fortune, I guess, on a couple of those," he said. "Those are throws you can’t make. You’ve just got to learn from those."
Garoppolo, who entered the game in relief of Tom Brady after halftime, rebounded quickly and finished having completed 13 of 17 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.
It was an ominous start for the product of Eastern Illinois who may be forced into a starting role early in the season if Brady's four-game suspension is upheld in federal court.
On one attempt to Jonathan Krause, Garoppolo was nearly picked by Panthers corner Bene Benwikere for what should have been an interception return for a touchdown. Instead, Benwikere dropped it.
Three plays later, Garoppolo threw one to undrafted rookie Chris Harper that hit Panthers corner Josh Norman in the hands. It ended up as another potential pick dropped.
Garoppolo played cleanly the rest of the way, however, with his best drive coming early in the fourth quarter. In 1:56, he drove the Patriots offense 60 yards, capping the series with a nine-yard touchdown pass to running back Dion Lewis, who had lined up on the outside as a receiver and ran a slant pattern.
The key play on the drive, which came one snap before the score, was Garoppolo's 40-yard completion to receiver Aaron Dobson, who made his preseason debut in Carolina.
"It was an important drive for sure," Garoppolo said. "Aaron made a huge play down the sideline, a great catch. Dion got open for the touchdown. It was really all those guys doing their job on every play. It was just one play after another, we were executing. It turned out to be a good drive."
Garoppolo has been asked for much of the offseason if he will be ready to take over the starter's duties come Week 1 of the regular season. While he's long hedged when posed some version of that question, he did say on Friday that he was relatively pleased with how he's progressed in his second season.
"I’m doing all right with it," Garoppolo said. "It is what it is, really. Can’t really control any part of it. The less you worry about it, the better. There’s really no point to worry about it. I’m doing pretty good."
Garoppolo will likely have an opportunity to further progress and build up his confidence when the Giants visit Gillette Stadium for the fourth and final preseason game next week. He said he'll carry some of what occurred against the Panthers -- particularly the off-the-mark throws that almost led to interceptions -- with him into that game in the hopes of improving.
"There’s a ton of things," he said. "Those two throws tonight. Those were near-picks. You don’t want to have any of those. It’s Game 4. We’re just going to go into it like every other week. We’re going into it, and while I’m in there, just compete."