By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com
1. When the Patriots' 27-24 win over the Saints was over, the rookies were phantoms. Best seen and not heard? For the most part, yes. Rolling through the work of some of the more prominent guys . . . 1) Devin McCourty got the start at right corner and was very solid. He had a pass breakup on a ball intended for Devery Henderson and things were quiet in his area. That's a positive. He also had a 52-yard kickoff return (111 on three tries). 2) Rob Gronkowski didn't catch a pass, but the tight end is a devastating blocker. When he gets on you, game over. 3) Brandon Spikes finished with eight tackles and looks like a player who will be able to play right out of the chutes. 4) Aaron Hernandez finished with three catches for 26 yards. He wasn't as impressive as he's been in camp, but did settle in against the Saints' second teamers.
2. Strange running back deployment Thursday night. It's not a shocker that Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris were on ice for the night. This is one of those "go easy on the old guys" games. But to see BenJarvus Green-Ellis getting virtually all the first-team reps instead of Laurence Maroney was eye-opening. Why? Three possibilities. A) BJGE was being showcased for a trade. (I don't buy that; the Pats running back depth isn't great.) B) A message is being sent to the not-terribly-consistent Maroney. C) Green-Ellis has moved ahead of Maroney on the depth chart. I don't know which one it is, but it was interesting that Fred Taylor said with emphasis that Green-Ellis "needs an opportunity. He's a very good running back."
3. Brian Hoyer had a Brian Hoyer performance. It's pretty amazing that a second-year player that went undrafted can be as comfortable and efficient as Hoyer consistently is as the Patriots backup. He went 8-for-13 for 106 yards with no touchdowns and no picks. Accurate. Smart. Nothing looked stupid or ill-conceived. Good stuff. Tom Brady was 5-for-8 for 67 yards and called it a night after leading a 14-play, 93-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter. The Patriots worked wide-receiver screens to Julian Edelman and deep outs to both Randy Moss and Brandon Tate while Brady was in there. The out-patterns are so long in developing, Brady's going to need superior protection to execute those.
4. Overall, the Patriots' offensive line looked good even without Pro Bowler Logan Mankins. Dan Connolly, forced into action at left guard because of Mankins' contract impasse and Nick Kaczur's injured back, was very good, coming up with a road-clearing block for Green-Ellis when he pulled around center and went up the gut to wipe out Jonathan Vilma. And the second-team offense also did a nice job, springing Maroney twice for short touchdown runs and helping the Patriots show more red-zone efficiency than we saw last year.
5. The secondary depth the Patriots have right now is pretty impressive. The starters at the outset were the aforementioned McCourty at one corner with Darius Butler at the other. Brandon Meriweather and Patrick Chung were the safeties and both were pretty solid. Chung had a terrific hit on Reggie Bush. The downside to their performance came on the Saints' 20-play scoring drive (they were nearly off the field until an illegal-contact penalty by Butler on a fourth-and-six from the Pats' 39 extended the drive). The second group, with Jonathan Wilhite and Terrence Wheatley at the corners and James Sanders and Brandon McGowan at the safety spots, was good overall. Sanders and Wilhite did look bad on a throw to Adrian Arrington, who turned a short reception into a 51-yard gain when they missed tackles. Wheatley, who was part of the fleet of Patriots that missed tackles on Larry Beavers' kickoff return touchdown, did atone late in the game by tripping up Patrick Ramsey on a third-and-goal bootleg that saved a touchdown.
Tom E. Curran can be reached at tcurran@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Tom on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomecurran
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