Fourth quarter, 0:39, Patriots 27-24: That should do it. Wide receiver Montez Billings got shellacked over the middle of the field by Sergio Brown, and Eric Alexander intercepted the pass.
Fourth quarter, 0:53, Patriots 27-24: Stephen Gostkowski drilled a 28-yard field goal from the left hash to give the Patriots a late lead. The scoring drive was set up by a 52-yard bubble screen to wide receiver Darnell Jenkins, who made a handful of nifty moves to put the Pats in prime position.
By the way, there’s a Patriots fan wearing a jersey with the No. 16 and the name “Perfect.” Yeah, that’s a great accomplishment, but doesn’t it remind him of one of the worst losses in franchise history, if not the worst?
Fourth quarter, 2:40, 24-24: Garrett Hartley, who missed three consecutive field goals at one point during practice this week, hit a 23-yard field goal to tie the game. Apparently, Saints head coach Sean Payton has no problems with overtime in the preseason. On third down, quarterback Chase Daniel rolled out on a naked bootleg but was stuffed in the backfield by cornerback Terrence Wheatley, who made two nice plays in the red zone on that drive.
Fourth quarter, 9:26, Patriots 24-21: The Pats’ reserves on the offensive line have had a forgettable night, but I can’t figure out who was at fault on the last rush. Either Zac Robinson isn’t reading the blitzes correctly, or the linemen aren’t doing a good job of communicating. Either way, New England’s offense can’t do anything with this group in the game.
Fourth quarter, 10:29, Patriots 24-21: If you’re looking for a defensive star of the game, it should probably be linebacker Brandon Spikes, who had eight total tackles. Safety Patrick Chung and rookie cornerback Devin McCourty also looked good.
Fourth quarter, 12:54, Patriots 24-21: Saints owner Tom Benson just said his goodbyes to the Saints’ PR staff. Hey, the fourth quarter of preseason games isn’t for everyone. Either that, or he didn’t want to be interrupted when Jersey Shore started.
End of third quarter, Patriots 24-21: The Patriots are running a little bit on New Orleans, with Chris Taylor leading the charge. That’s probably a welcomed change of pace for the second- and third-stringers on the offensive line, who are getting slapped in pass protection. Brian Hoyer, whose night is over, had a productive outing, completing 8-of-13 passes for 106 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He led two touchdown drives.
Third quarter, 5:50, Patriots 24-21: The Patriots caught a break after Saints defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove was flagged for illegal hands to the face. Thomas Welch, who replaced Mark LeVoir at right tackle (LeVoir moved to left tackle) got beat, and Zac Robinson was stripped of the football. Not so fast, said the officials.
Third quarter, 7:15, Patriots 24-21: Chris Ivory scored from two yards out to get the Saints within a score, and the drive was set up after Jonathan Wilhite and James Sanders missed a tackle that led to a 51-yard gain for Adrian Arrington. And after Brian Hoyer’s most recent beating, he has been relieved by third-stringer Zac Robinson, who has had a miserable string of practices.
Third quarter, 9:02, Patriots 24-14: Right tackle Mark LeVoir isn’t going to get a Christmas card from Brian Hoyer if this keeps up. The Saints have been hammering Hoyer from the right side of the Patriots’ line for awhile, and Hoyer doesn’t look particularly happy about the beating he is taking.
Third quarter, 10:11, Patriots 24-14: Larry Beavers doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. Come on, Internet, where are you?
Third quarter, 10:17, Patriots 24-14: Larry Beavers — cue the “Who?!?!?” — returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Bill Belichick and special teams coordinator Scott O’Brien now have an official gripe to beat over the team this week.
Third quarter, 10:35, Patriots 24-7: Laurence Maroney powered through a logjam at the goal line and scored a one-yard touchdown. Have to like the way Maroney is running the ball Thursday night. He’s got seven carries for 17 yards and two scores. No, the yards per carry aren’t otherworldly, but he’s running behind the second-team offensive line.
Third quarter, 12:09, Patriots 17-7: So, I can’t overstate this enough, but the Saints have to loathe how much they’re getting killed by Julian Edelman. Similar stuff happened during the three joint practices this week, and the Saints spent a lot of time jawing at Edelman. They didn’t appear to be particularly fond of him. His six catches and 90 yards are going to make some Saints sick.
Third quarter, 14:51, Patriots 17-7: Rookie cornerback Devin McCourty returned the second-half kickoff 52 yards, which matches the longest kickoff return the Patriots had during all of 2009. Between McCourty and Julian Edelman on punt returns, the Pats’ return units have looked nice Thursday night.
Halftime, Patriots 17-7: Good first half for the Patriots, who were very efficient on offense. Tom Brady and the first team can hang their hats on a long touchdown drive, and Brian Hoyer can do the same with his first possession. For the second half, I want to see what the young guys can do on defense. And I want to see if outside linebacker Jermaine Cunningham is going to get some more looks. Haven’t seen much, if any, of Cunningham, who has been running with the first-team defense through the last week of practice.
Second quarter, 1:35, Patriots 17-7: The Saints teed off on Brian Hoyer on the last possession, particularly attacking the right side of the Pats’ offensive line — Mark LeVoir was the right tackle. After Aaron Hernandez caught a six-yard pass that came up short of the first down, he looked pretty disappointed and was greeted by de facto offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and veteran tight end Alge Crumpler on the sideline. Not sure what the conversation was about, but it couldn’t have been in regard to the last catch because Hernandez was the safety route in the flat.
Second quarter, 2:12, Patriots 17-7: The Saints didn’t do much there, and it looks like Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo and Brandon Meriweather are done for the night. The Patriots are taking over at their own 20 after another New Orleans punt. By the way, the Patriots employed a unique package on third down, using just one defensive lineman (Myron Pryor) and a host of linebackers and defensive backs roaming around the second tier of the defense. Poor Patrick Ramsey.
Second quarter, 5:03, Patriots 17-7: Patrick Ramsey has replaced Drew Brees, who was 9 of 13 for 55 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Ramsey hasn’t had a good camp, so things could slow down here.
Second quarter, 5:08, Patriots 17-7: That’s a pretty nice way to debut in a game. Laurence Maroney was a quick substitution, took his first hand-off and slipped into the end zone for a five-yard score. It might not be the greatest indication that it took 25 minutes for Maroney to get his first action, but he made that carry count.Oh, and someone alert the Saints that it is, indeed, OK to tackle Julian Edelman.
Second quarter, 7:30, Patriots 10-7: Tom Brady finished 5 of 8 for 67 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was out of sync on the Patriots’ opening drive, but he looked much more fluid on the second possession.
Second quarter, 8:35, Patriots 10-7: Brian Hoyer has replaced Tom Brady at quarterback, and the veterans on the first-team offense can find a comfortable spot on the bench. The entire starting offensive line is off the field, as is Randy Moss.
Second quarter, 9:32, Patriots 10-7: Reggie Bush scored on a two-yard run to cut into the Patriots’ lead. It was a 20-play, 86-yard drive that spanned 10:01. Yeah, wow. The Patriots’ defense was susceptible to those long drives last season, and there’s one right off the bat in the 2010 preseason.
Inside linebacker Brandon Spikes did a good job to clog up the middle on second-and-goal. On the next play, Bush ran away from Spikes’ side of the field, and Jerod Mayo was blown up at the line. From there, no one had the speed to catch Bush on the edge. That’s a compliment to Spikes that the Saints ran away from him on third down.Second quarter, 11:44, Patriots 10-0: The Saints have a third-and-7 on the New England 21-yard line and have used their first timeout. Common with the Patriots’ first two weeks of practices, they’ve used a ton of packages with three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs (mostly with two corners and three safeties in this game). The big-nickel approach Thursday likely has to do with the Saints’ talented tight ends. The three-linebacker sets, I think, are a sign that the Patriots realize they’re hurting on depth at the outside spot. Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes and Tully Banta-Cain have been the most often-used linebackers.
End of first quarter, Patriots 10-0: BenJarvus Green-Ellis has eight carries for 24 yards and one touchdown, and he’s gotten all but one of the Pats’ rush attempts Thursday night. While I believe Sammy Morris is the team’s top back at this point, I think Green-Ellis is getting these reps for a couple of reasons.
First of all, it’s a great opportunity for Bill Belichick to see what Green-Ellis can give the team with the first-team offense and defense on the field. Green-Ellis is on the roster bubble, and Belichick probably wants to know one way or another if he’s a guy worth keeping around long-term. Also, the Pats have an aging backfield that doesn’t need to put extra work on its tires, so they probably appreciate the rest.
Why isn’t Laurence Maroney getting more work, though? Well, he might still be in the doghouse.
First quarter, 4:33, Patriots 10-0: BenJarvus Green-Ellis made a beautiful read after taking the hand-off deep in the backfield. He ran off tackle to the right and slid right through a gap created by the Pats’ offensive line. Tom Brady was noticeably excited that the offense punched the ball into the end zone after a 93-yard drive. I’d venture to guess that’s it for the offensive starters. All in all, good work by Brady, but he’d like a couple of those throws back, at least on the first drive.
First quarter, 5:07, Patriots 3-0: This has been a much more efficient drive for the New England offense. Tom Brady has completed three passes of at least 20 yards — one each to Randy Moss, Brandon Tate (who made another highlight grab on the sideline) and Julian Edelman on a quick throw to the flat — and the Patriots have a first-and-goal on the 5-yard line.
First quarter, 10:52, Patriots 3-0: It was another good series for the Patriots’ defense, forcing the Saints to a quick punt, and New England takes over on its own 7. Pats safety Patrick Chung did a solid job on third down to close in on wide receiver Lance Moore and make a tackle before the first-down marker. Chung plays this game in high speed and high control.
First quarter, 12:59, Patriots 3-0: Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 35-yard field goal from the right hash to give the Patriots the lead, but it wasn’t a pretty offensive possession for New England. Tom Brady was erratic with two throws and missed a streaking Kevin Faulk down the left sideline on third down. With just three plays under his belt, it’s likely Brady will see another series.
First quarter, 13:44, 0-0: Marques Murrell had a tough week. He was heckled by a fan Tuesday and later carted off the field for heat-related reasons, but he came up with the Patriots’ first big defensive play of the preseason. That’s a good start for a guy on the roster bubble.
First quarter, 13:44, 0-0: Linebacker Marques Murrell blew around the right side of the Saints’ offensive line to sack Drew Brees on third down, and Julian Edelman returned New Orleans’ punt 40 yards to the Saints’ 19-yard line. Tom Brady, Randy Moss and the Patriots’ offense are in business.
First quarter, 15:00, 0-0: The game’s opening kickoff went for a touchback, and the Saints start it off at their own 20-yard line.
7:35 p.m.: The Saints won the toss and will receive the game’s opening kickoff. Everyone, give a big, warm welcome to the 2010 football season.
7:28 p.m.: Tom Brady led the Patriots onto the field and was head-butting everyone in sight under the inflated helmet behind the end zone. With each team on the field now, kickoff is only minutes away.
7:05 p.m.: Cornerback Leigh Bodden won’t play Thursday after missing six consecutive padded practices with a knee injury. No surprise there. Wide receiver Torry Holt isn’t out there, either, so he’ll sit out after missing four straight padded practices.
6:56 p.m.: Quarterback Tom Brady and linebacker Jerod Mayo are leading the team stretch. No question at all about the two big leaders on this team.
6:49 p.m.: Quarterback Tom Brady is on the field in full gear, which means it looks like he’s ready to go in this one.
6:01 p.m.: Owner Robert Kraft is a smart man, and he’s not shy to point out how difficult the Patriots’ schedule is this season.
“This is our family’s 17th season [of ownership], and I think our schedule, at least based on last year, is really a rugged schedule, starting right in Week 1 [against the Bengals],” Kraft said. “It’s a great [schedule], but there are no gimmes. It’s a rough schedule, but it’s nice. This team seems to have a confidence about it. I just hope we’ll get to see it.”
5:58 p.m.: Former Patriots running back Sam “Bam” Cunningham was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame earlier Thursday. Check out the story coming shortly on NESN.com. My favorite quote from the 35-minute ceremony came from the man of the hour.
“I really, really enjoyed trying to dominate a linebacker or a defensive lineman,” Cunningham said.
5:41 p.m.: From the sounds of it, it seems unlikely Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker will play in Thursday night’s preseason opener. Patriots owner Robert Kraft was asked just a few minutes ago about Welker’s status, and Kraft said, “Don’t be surprised if he’s not [playing]. He’ll play when the time is right.”
8 a.m. The Patriots are 22 practices into training camp, and three have been with the Super Bowl-champion Saints. Yet, things will kick up a notch Thursday at 7:30 p.m. for the teams’ preseason opener at Gillette Stadium.
Don’t expect a whole lot from Tom Brady and the rest of the starters, who will likely only see one or two series at the start of the first quarter. Thursday will be geared heavily toward the second- and third-stringers who are jockeying for roster spots.There’s still no telling whether wide receiver Wes Welker will see any action. On one hand, it would be smart to keep him away and allow him to build up at least another week of strength before testing the left knee in a game. On the other, it might be good to give him a few reps for conditioning purposes, as well as to build up his confidence with his physical progress.
Stay with NESN.com throughout the day. We’ll pass along notes Thursday afternoon after Sam “Bam” Cunningham’s enshrinement to the Patriots Hall of Fame, and then we’ll evaluate the Patriots’ first 60 minutes of football in the 2010 season.
