Jimmy Garoppolo putting the Patriots at ease with his fantastic play

One of the most interesting subplots of the preseason was how the New England Patriots would use Jimmy Garoppolo in games.

They're still planning on Tom Brady playing 12 games at least, and maybe more if they get a favorable ruling in court. But they have to figure Garoppolo will start four games, and he needs to be ready. The Patriots don't have an easy schedule through those first four games.

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Saturday night made sense. Brady played three series, all three-and-outs. And after nine plays, it was Garoppolo's time to get some experience. He played the rest of the game and for the most part, he played very well. Garoppolo finished 28-of-33 for 269 yards. It's only the preseason and Garoppolo did most of his work against second- and third-stringers, but suddenly the first four games without Brady might not seem so daunting.

The Patriots had to feel good about how Garoppolo finished. The Patriots got the ball back with two minutes left in the fourth quarter trailing 24-23. Garoppolo made a beautiful pass to a tightly covered Jonathan Krause for a 22-yard gain. That put the Patriots in field-goal position, and after a couple of runs, Stephen Gostkowski kicked the game-winning field goal. The result doesn't count, but it has to give the Patriots confidence seeing how Garoppolo came up with a big play in a pressure situation.

Garoppolo's highlight play came near the end of the first half, when he spun away from a pass rusher who seemed to have him wrapped up for a sack, and Garoppolo planted just long enough to throw a 24-yard touchdown to Chris Harper. Ideally the Patriots would like Garoppolo to get rid of the ball in that spot before the rush got there, but it was a very athletic play to make something good out of nothing.

Garoppolo had an interception in the second half in which he overthrew his target, but mostly he played in control and was efficient. He didn't take a ton of chances deep downfield but was good at getting the ball out on quick, short throws and also finding receivers at intermediate levels. That's what the Patriots offense is built on anyway, and Garoppolo looked comfortable running it. If you thought the Patriots would be vulnerable with Garoppolo likely starting the first four games, watching Garoppolo complete pass after pass on Saturday night couldn't have been fun.

Until we hear otherwise, we have to assume Garoppolo will start the first quarter of the regular season as the Patriots' starting quarterback. If he plays like he did Saturday night against the Saints, the Patriots will be in pretty good shape by the time their Super Bowl MVP returns.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab