Saints vs. Patriots: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 Preseason

The New England Patriots will be asked to win some games without Tom Brady during the 2016 season, and they did exactly that on Thursday in their first preseason contest of the year. New England beat the New Orleans Saints 34-22 in Gillette Stadium.

At this point, Patriots games take on slightly more intrigue than normal NFL preseason battles because Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to lead the team in the first four showdowns of the regular season while Brady serves his Deflategate suspension.

Garoppolo has thrown a grand total of 31 passes in his NFL career, so preseason action provides a glimpse at his potential against live defenses.

Brady wasn’t even in the stadium on Thursday, as the Patriots announced he was attending memorial services for a family member.

Garoppolo posted solid numbers in a half of work and finished 11-of-18 passing for 168 yards. While he didn’t account for a touchdown, he also didn’t throw any interceptions. He also received some help from his defense, which scored two touchdowns during the game on a pick-six and fumble return.

Despite the victory and decent numbers, Garoppolo struggled out of the gate when he took a sack on his first third down. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe said the quarterback “stood like a statue in the pocket, didn’t feel the rush,” although he offered an important qualifier:

So Garoppolo is playing without Gronk, Edelman, Hogan, Amendola, Dion Lewis and Keshawn Martin

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 11, 2016

Garoppolo’s counterpart, Drew Brees, played one possession for New Orleans and completed his only pass for 37 yards.

Brees’ value to the Saints was clear when backup Garrett Grayson threw a pick-six on his first pass of the preseason. Patrick Chung caused a deflection, and Jamie Collins intercepted the loose ball and ran it 43 yards back the other way.

New England went up 8-0 with a two-point conversion, and the NFL passed along the initial score:

?? PICK-6 ALERT! ??We see you, @j_collins91! #NOvsNE https://t.co/OorYj9N00W

— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2016

The Saints tied the score later in the first quarter and took the lead in the second with a pair of Mark Ingram touchdowns from New England’s 1-yard line. The two-point conversions made it 16-8, and Grayson contributed on the second drive with multiple completions to rookie Michael Thomas.

Nick Underhill of the Advocate reacted to the development:

Sean Payton …

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