Check out our recap of the first half here.
The Saints started off the second half with a nice drive down the field, but undrafted rookie Cre’Von LeBlanc made the one-handed interception of the season to stop the drive in the end zone.
And after two nice grabs by tight end A.J. Derby, running back Tyler Gaffney broke into the open field for a monster touchdown to give the Patriots a 24-16 lead.
The game certainly lulled with the third and fourth string players on the field and the Patriots were also hit with the new “coach on the field” penalty. The Saints scored a touchdown on a quick pass in between Jonathan Jones and Kamu Grugier-Hill, but failed to convert the 2-point attempt as the Patriots led 24-22.
As an aside, Jones and KGH were both excellent on Thursday, although Jones appeared to have suffered an injury- it was minor enough that he opted to remain in the game.
Trey Flowers continued his excellent game with a strip sack, which he recovered himself, and returned for a touchdown to create a two-score 31-22 lead.
Jacoby Brissett led a nice clock-killing drive to set up a 45-yard Gostkowski field goal to take a 34-22 lead with a little more than 3 minutes in the game.
The crowd led a bunch of “Free Brady” chants that were picked up on the television mics and that’s kind of when the game stopped mattering.
Derby made a nice special teams tackle to go with his offensive contributions, so he might actually have the edge on a roster spot. V’Angelo Bentley returned kicks. The final few minutes were all about the depth players trying to make plays.
The Patriots have a lot to review as they head into the second week of the preseason. The defense was stellar, the offense was (justifiably) less so.
Let's recap the New England Patriots 34-22 victory over the Saints!
由 Pats Pulpit: For New England Patriots News 貼上了 2016年8月11日
Next up for the Patriots are the Chicago Bears.