New England Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola continues to come through when given an opportunity.
Danny Amendola hasn’t had his number called too many times, but when he does, he has delivered. In Sunday’s 41-25 win against the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots receiver scored the team’s first touchdown of the game and had a key return to set up another.
Throughout the season Amendola has been limited in snaps, but manages to find a way to come up with a big third-down catch or even a touchdown when the game matters. On Sunday, he came through big on special teams with a 73-yard kickoff return to open the second half.
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The return gave the Patriots great field position and set up a touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Julian Edelman to make the score 31-10. It basically drained any life the Bills had out of them. Following the game, Brady talked about Amendola’s knack for the big play.
"“That (return) set us up for the whole second half,” Brady told reporters after the game via NESN. “It’s a 10-point swing, probably a 13-point swing, and that was huge. Danny is always around for big plays, important plays, and he is a great competitor. He gives everything he has for the team. He always knows when to make the right play, whether it’s to kneel in the end zone or to run it back like he did.”"
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Amendola did have a holding penalty that called back a big play, but overall he is doing whatever the team asks him to do. With Malcolm Mitchell nursing an injury, he may get his number called a bit more. Head coach Bill Belichick certainly realizes the value of Amendola and echoed the importance of his kickoff return during his conference call on Monday.
"“We got good blocking on the return,” Belichick said Monday. “Danny did a good job of setting up the blocks. We had two double-team blocks on the play, and both of those doubles were very good. We got the three and the four both moved out of there, so there was quite a bit of space. The wedge did a good job on the kick-out blocks. (Barkevious) Mingo and (Patrick) Chung had big blocks on the back side to get Danny through, and Danny did a nice job of running.”"
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Danny Amendola hopes his big plays open up more playmaking opportunities as the season continues on.