By Hal Bent
Somehow, some way, the New England Patriots found a way to win against theNew Orleans Saints.
Adjectives failed to describe what happened on Sunday afternoon in Foxborough, MA in final 3:30 of the game: Classic, Epic, Mind-boggling, Unbelievable, Incredulous, or Incredible fail to describe it.
Twice the New England Patriots offense had the ball and a chance at victory and both times the team was unable to get a first down, with a turnover on downs (highlighted by two dropped passes, including a huge drop by rookie wide receiver Aaron Dobson on fourth down) and a gunslinger/Brett Favre throwback interception by quarterback Tom Brady.
However, the New England defense, which had already played the entire game without their top two interior defensive linemen (Vince Wilfork and Tommy Kelly) and started two rookies in their place, held the mighty Saints offense in check on two consecutive drives. With New Orleans attempting to run out the clock, thePatriots defense, also without top run-stuffing middle linebacker Jerod Mayo wholeft injured in the second half, held the Saints to consecutive three-and-outs. When the Saints attempted to pass for the first down, the Patriots secondary, which had lost shutdown cornerback Aqib Talib to a hip injury in the third quarter, stopped Drew Brees and saved precious time on the clock.
The total team effort led to an unheard of third chance to drive and win the game. Given that opportunity, quarterback Tom Brady finally took advantage of it and drove New England down the field to victory. After missing badly on the deep pass seemingly all season long, quarterback Tom Brady connected on a beautiful pass to undrafted free agent Kenbrell Thompkins with the clock ticking down from ten seconds and the Patriots trailing by six. Tom Brady was seven for 31 passing with two interceptions on passes of 20+ yards in the air before his connection to Thompkins (per ProFootballFocus.com).
Some unheralded stars for the Patriots in the game who were lost aftermath of the comeback: Safety Devin McCourty...For much more click here: http://cover32.com/patriots/2013/10/16/new-england-patriots-go-from-ryan-rob-to-ryan-rex/
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