Tom Brady shook off the rust of his post-Super Bowl layoff and led the two-time defending NFL champions to a couple of scores.
After throwing an interception on his first play of the preseason, Brady led the Patriots on two consecutive scoring drives. Doug Flutie converted two more TDs on Thursday night before both quarterbacks left the game and the New Orleans Saints rallied for a 37-27 exhibition victory.
The Patriots led 27-16 with 5:43 left in the third quarter before Aaron Brooks hit Devery Henderson on a 34-yard touchdown pass, then missed on the 2-point conversion to leave it 27-22.
PHOTO: EPA
Saints backup Todd Bouman hit Michael Lewis for 15 yards on a fourth-and-2 just before the two-minute warning. After an incompletion, Bouman threw to Nate Poole, who lunged for the end zone to break the plane as a defender grabbed his foot to pull him back.
With the Patriots at their own 14, L.P. Ladouceur hit Matt Cassel and forced a fumble that was scooped up by Jimmy Verdon and brought into the end zone for an insurance score.
Brady, who didn't play in a 23-13 win over Cincinnati last week, was 6-for-11 for 105 yards and one interception before giving way to Flutie with 6:32 left in the first half. Flutie converted two touchdowns on his first three plays in a much-anticipated return to New England, where he won the Heisman Trophy for Boston College and spent four seasons with the Patriots during his well-traveled pro career.
Brooks played three quarters for the Saints and went 14-for-23 for 158 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Deuce McAllister, who had a costly fumble on the third play of New Orleans' 34-15 loss to Seattle last week, carried 20 times for 88 yards.
Brady and Flutie both sat out the preseason opener while the Patriots held tryouts for the No. 3 job between rookie Cassel and Rohan Davey, who's in his fourth year. Brady, who went an NFL-record 162 pass attempts without an interception to start his career, threw behind tight end Benjamin Watson on a 15-yard out pattern and Dwight Smith stepped in front of the ball to set up John Carney's 23-yard field goal.
But the two-time Super Bowl MVP responded on the next possession, hitting Tim Dwight on a 45-yard pass to the Saints 12. Patrick Pass, playing because Corey Dillon missed practice all week to be with his wife during childbirth, ran it in from the 2.
After New Orleans punted, Brady led the Patriots to the Saints 5 before Adam Vinatieri's field goal made it 10-3. McAllister ran three straight times for 26 yards to start a 75-yard drive that ended on Mike Karney's 1-yard run to make it 10-all.
Josh Miller's punt pinned the Saints at the 3, but Brooks drove them to the 20 before throwing a pass that bounced off receiver Joe Horn and defender Chad Scott into Rodney Harrison's hands. He carried it to the 3, and Kyle Eckel brought it in from there to make it 17-10.
The crowd didn't notice that Flutie had replaced Brady in the game. Flutie, 42, responded by hitting Dwight for 12 yards on the first play and then, on the next play, connecting with a well-covered Jason Anderson in the front corner of the end zone to make it 24-13. It had been 17 years since Flutie threw a touchdown pass in Foxborough wearing a Patriots uniform; his last appearance here for New England was in Foxboro Stadium against the Houston Oilers on Dec. 3, 1989.
Flutie was in for just nine plays over three series, completing 3 of 4 passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. Cassel, who was hailed after leading New England to victory in his pro debut, was 7-for-11 for 69 yards, but he was sacked three times; Davey didn't play.
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