With Tom Brady serving his suspension stemming from the ‘deflategate’ scandal, the Patriots expected to turn their team over to Jimmy Garoppolo for the first four weeks of the 2016 season. However, in the second game, the third-year quarterback went down and was replaced by rookie Jacoby Brissett.
Brissett then got his first career start the following week against the Houston Texans.
At the time, the Texans were 2-0 led by Brock Osweiler, a young DeAndre Hopkins, and a prime J.J. Watt. But, when the game started, the Patriots were clearly the better team.