Saints 31 Patriots 17 summary ....... The Saints used big scoring plays to earn a fine victory over the Patriots. play-by-play ............ The Patriots started at their own 48 thanks to a 15 yd facemask penalty on the opening kickoff. They were unable to take advantage of the good field position, though, as they failed to pick up a 1st. The punt was fair-caught at the 13. The O took the field and looked sharp- Quinn Early 8 yd catch, Bates 6 yd run for 1st; Irv Smith 8 yd catch, Bates 2 yd run for 1st; Torrance Small end-around for 13 yds & a 1st at midfield. On the team's sixth play, Early beat his man down the sideline and grabbed Jim Everett's deep throw while crossing the goal line. New England started with even better field position on their second possession thanks to Meggett's return to the NO 32. The drive consisted solely of handoffs to Martin- 5 yds, 8 yds for 1st; 2 yds, 5 yds, 3 yds, inches for 1st, 9 yds for TD. On the drive's second play, Vince Buck got tangled up while making a tackle and fractured his right leg (he's out for the year). The O looked equally impressive on the visitors' second possession- Smith 4 yd catch, Bates 7 yd run for 1st; incompletion, Bates 5 yd run, Small 10 yd catch & 1st at NE 45. On the next play Smith took in a pass, broke a tackle, and rumbled all the way to the 2. Bates ran it in on the play after that. With 4:26 left in the first quarter, the Saints were up 14-7. Meggett again returned the kickoff into Saint territory, but a clipping penalty put the Pats all the way back to the 9. Bledsoe found Coates for 15 on 3rd & 8, then found him again for 9 on 3rd & 5. A pass to Moore gave New England a 1st at midfield. The Saints missed a big opportunity when Rufus Porter ignored an incomplete backwards pass (lateral) that was sitting on the ground right in front of him (a Patriot eventually fell on the ball). Two subsequent incomplete forward passes produced a punt. The O started moving once again with a 2 yd catch by Wesley Walls and a 15 yd run by Bates, but the team couldn't move the sticks a second time. New England fair-caught the punt at their own 30. A 8 yd catch by Gash on 3rd & 5 gave New England a 1st, but a couple of false start penalties slowed the drive's progress. On 3rd & 11 the D knocked the ball loose from Bledsoe but couldn't come up with it. Good punt coverage and an unnecessary roughness call forced the Saints to start at their own 6. The team couldn't get out of the hole and went 3 & punt. Meggett's return gave NE more good field position, at the NO 35. The D appeared to have stymied the ensuing drive, but on 4th & 1 Parcells called for a fake FG- holder Zolak ran for 8 yds and a 1st. Bledsoe hit Moore for 12 on 3rd & 7, and one play later Martin ran it in from 3 yds out. The Saints benefitted from a 15 yd facemask penalty on the ensuing kickoff and started from their own 39. The team moved downfield through the air- Smith for 6, Walls for 18 & a 1st; Early for 25 & a 1st; Smith for 6. On the next play pressure caused Everett to throw the ball up for grabs into the endzone (fortunately, it landed incomplete). He saw more pressure on the next play, but he threw it where it would be either a TD or an incompletion (it was the latter). Doug Brien came on and made a 24 yd FG. At this point there were only 38 seconds left, but there was still plenty of first half action to go. The Saints squibbed the kickoff (away from Meggett) to one of the up-men, who fumbled it after a hit by J.J. McCleskey. The Saints recovered at the NE 43. Everett threw for the endzone on the next play, but a Patriot easily intercepted the underthrown ball. During the runback, Everett got into a wrestling match with a Patriot lineman and scored a takedown. The Patriots eventually took over at their own 30. Bledsoe completed a throw into Saint territory, but his second throw fell incomplete. On the last play of the half he put it up for grabs deep, but Shane Pahukoa (in for Buck) intercepted at the goal line. He ran a few yards before lateraling to Tyrone Hughes, but the speedster was eventually pushed out of bounds. A holding call on Jim Dombrowski on the second half's first play from scrimmage doomed the Saints' next possession. However, a good punt by Klaus Wilmsmeyer and good coverage by Tyrone Legette put the Patriots back at their own 18. Workhorse Martin got his team a couple of 1st downs, but the New Englanders came up a yard short on a 3rd down play. Facing 4th & 1 at the NO 48, Parcells got sneaky again. The Pats started in punt formation but then switched to a standard set. The Saints called time out. New England again threatened to run for the 1st, but it turned out to be a ploy to get the D to jump offside. It didn't work, and the Patriots finally punted. Two runs by Bates moved the sticks, but on the next play New England stuffed an Early end-around for a 12 yd loss. The team was unable to regain the yardage, and the punt was returned to the NE 39. The Patriots strung together three first downs- Martin 9 run, Cash 2 run for 1st; Coates 3 catch, Martin 3 run, Graham 5 catch for 1st; Martin 6 run, Martin 3 run, Martin 5 run for 1st. A false start, a stuffed Martin run, and a sack by Porter pushed NE back to the NO 35, but a 14 yd catch by Coates set up a 39 yd FG. Bahr made the kick to tie the game on the first play of the 4th quarter. On the second play of the ensuing possession, Everett beat the blitz by dumping a short throw to Lorenzo Neal from the NO 30. The FB took off down the sideline thanks to a block by Smith. At the NE 15 the play was almost ruined by an apparent Michael Haynes clip, but it wasn't called. By the time his trek was finished, Neal had a 70 yd TD reception. The Patriots tried to respond. On 3rd & 8 from the NE 41 Bledsoe hit Coates for 14. Then he hit Moore for 10. Two runs by Martin set up 3rd & inches, but a third Martin run was negated by a holding penalty. A nice pass defense by Eric Allen seemed to kill the drive, but the Pats went for it on 4th & 10. Bledsoe found Coates for the required yardage to produce a fresh set of downs. New England failed to gain any more yardage, though, and Bahr's 44 yd FG attempt hooked wide. The following play saw the Saints score another long TD- Bates took a handoff, cut outside, stiff-armed a defender, then cut back inside and ran all the way for the score. With 8:30 left to go, the Saints were up 31-17. Another good kick return (Brown this time) let New England start near midfield. The homeboys went to the no-huddle and moved the ball quickly. Coates took a pass to the 18 on the drive's second play, and a defensive offside penalty and a pair of Meggett runs gave the Patriots a 1st & goal at the 3. However, Bledsoe unwisely lofted a pass into the endzone that was intercepted by Pahukoa. The Saints took over with 6:11 left on the clock. Bates ran for 4 and Neal caught one for 9. On 3rd & 3 Everett hit Small for 15. The Patriots seemed to give up, as they failed to use any of their timeouts to stop the clock. Two runs by Zellars gave the team the last 1st they needed, and soon the game was over. drive chart & stats ................... (P)unt, (M)issed FG, (E)nd of period, (F)umble, (I)nterception, out of (D)owns 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:07 Early A >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:13 Bates I >>>>>>>>>>P 1:43 N P 1:46 T >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 2:21 Brien S I :14 | E :00 | ....................................................halftime | P<< 2:15 | >>>>>P 2:52 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 :26 Neal | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 :13 Bates | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>E 6:11 | ....................................................gameover | 24:21 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G P >>>P 1:04 A >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:10 Martin T >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 4:45 R >>>>>>>P 4:18 I >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:55 Martin O F :09 T >>>>>>>>>>>>>I :15 S ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 3:30 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 6:27 Bahr | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>M 5:47 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I 2:19 | ....................................................gameover | 35:39 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G .......throwin' & catchin'...../...runnin'.... Everett Bates 15-123-2 Brown 1- 11 Zellars 4- 16 Neal 2- 78-1 Walls 2- 20 Smith 5- 67 Early 5- 92-1 1-(12) Small 2- 25 1- 13 incomplete 8 intercepted 1 17-26-293-2-1 21-140-2 Patriots: Martin 31-112-2, Coates 7-90 notes ..... * Anthony Newman probably would've replaced Buck, but he had an ankle injury. Pahukoa's main role has been as a big hitter on special teams. I hope he can do a good job the rest of the way. * With Winfred Tubbs again not playing due to injury, Brian Jones and Mark Fields platooned in his spot. Fields used his speed to penetrate into the backfield on numerous occasions, but he failed to wrap the ball carrier up. * It seemed like half of New England's plays were handoffs to Martin to the left side of the line. * Everett did throw some balls Haynes' way, but he didn't come down with any of them. ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu