Amendola Fills Void For Pats

In Sunday's nail-biting 17-16 win over the New York Jets, the New England Patriots were without one of their most effective and dynamic offensive weapons; Julian Edelman. While Edelman's absence created a big whole in the Pats' offense it was nicely filled by little-used Danny Amendola. 

Amendola, who has not really lived up to lofty expectations since his arrival in the off season last year, has been relegated to the third wide receiver slot over the last two seasons.

He was called upon, however, to fill in for the injured Edelman against the Jets and played well. Amendola had been a stand out with the St. Louis Rams at the beginning of his career, but had yet to flourish with the Pats.

He helped steady the offense by catching eight passes for 63 yards and was targeted by Tom Brady a team high 11 times. He also added an impressive effort to both the kickoff and punt return teams. He returned one punt for 39 yards which helped set the Pats up for one of their two touchdowns on the day.

The question now is what will Amendola's role be going forward? When Edelman is healthy he will undoubtedly be inserted back into his top spot on the receiver food chain, but Amendola's strong performance may have secured him a better chance at being called upon in the playoffs.

The Patriots are known for playing the hot hand as long as they can so maybe Amendola will be a key going forward at least for a while. They are also known for using players for certain match ups and then pushing them to the side when other match ups present themselves. We'll just have to wait and see, but at least we know that he does have the ability to make some plays when called upon.