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

Week 3 of the NFL preseason rolled along Friday night at Bank of America Stadium, and the New England Patriots put forth a largely strong effort in their regular season dress rehearsal with a 19-17 win over the Carolina Panthers.   

The Patriots are now 3-0 in exhibition play, while the Panthers dropped to 1-2 with one week remaining before the regular season kicks off.  

The story of the evening was Tom Brady’s return to the gridiron.

After sitting out the Patriots’ first two preseason contests—including Week 2 after he reportedly sliced his thumb on a pair of scissors—Brady was the second quarterback in for the Patriots behind Jimmy Garoppolo.

And after Garoppolo struggled to find his footing against the Panthers’ attacking defense, Brady provided some relief when he came in and immediately hit Aaron Dobson for a 37-yard connection that set New England up for a field goal—which proved to be game’s first three points. 

Then, just under five minutes into the second quarter, Brady effortlessly dropped a pass in the bucket to Chris Hogan (five catches, 62 yards) for a picturesque 33-yard touchdown to put the Pats up 9-0, as the NFL documented on Twitter: 

Tom Brady to @ChrisHogan_15 for the 33-yard TD!TB12 flashing Super Bowl form. #NEvsCAR https://t.co/uQv2NTPEX7

— NFL (@NFL) August 27, 2016

The Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe was among those in awe of Brady’s accuracy: 

The gods just dropped that football out of the sky. Holy cow.

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 27, 2016

By the time his night came to a close, Brady completed 3-of-9 passes for 76 yards and one touchdown.  

Garoppolo, meanwhile, received primary snaps in advance of his four-week interim starting gig that will coincide with Brady’s league-imposed suspension. 

And it was not …

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