Gunner Olszewski had a career day as the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, 45-0, on Sunday afternoon.
He scored twice in the victory, returning a punt for 70 yards and catching a 38-yard touchdown pass. He almost had a third touchdown, as he returned a punt 61 yards. Thankfully for the Chargers, punter Ty Long knocked Olszewski out of bounds at the 17-yard line.
Coming into this game, Olszewski had not scored a receiving touchdown in his career, and he had not returned a kickoff for a touchdown in his career. He almost did it last week against the Cardinals, but it was called back because of a penalty. Bill Belichick was quick to note Olszewski wasn’t exactly carrying the special teams unit.
“Happy for Gunner,” Belichick said after the game.” But you know, he got a lot of help on those plays, as well. He did a good job on finishing the runs and making some guys miss. But, you know, if we can just get those returns started. [DB] Justin [Bethel], [DB Jonathan Jones], [WR Matthew] Slater, [DB] Cody [Davis], those guys did a good job of getting him started and he did a good job of finishing the plays.
“So yeah, happy for him. His career is not the classic way of an NFL career, given where he came from. But yeah, happy for the success that they’ve had. Gunner’s worked extremely hard and overcome a lot. He’s not a big guy, but he has a big heart and he plays hard.”
He had his fingerprints all over this game, and it was encouraging to see as New England has desperately needed a spark in the passing and return game. In a year where the organization has struggled moving the football at times, the additional energy Olszewski brought on special teams was notable.
For a player that is utilized primarily as a special teams player, his impact was absolutely monstrous. He gave New England good field position, and he put together a strong body of work.
He returned three punts for 145 yards. He has 179 return yards this year. He had 97 all of last year. He is finding his role this year, and he is making it work. That was evident on Sunday.
As New England gets set to take on the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, it will be interesting to see if Olszewski will continue to have a huge role. His breakout game on Sunday could lead to something special. As it stands right now, he was a huge reason why New England had as much success as they did against the Chargers.
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