The Patriots couldn't get much going in the second quarter, but they finished the half with a nice scoring drive led by Jimmy Garoppolo that lasted just under a minute.
The second-year quarterback went 5-for-5 for 65 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown pass to Chris Harper. On the scoring play, Garoppolo slithered out of a would-be sack, kept his eyes down field, and found Harper, who had adjusted his route in response to how Garoppolo extended the play. In Patriots practices, they work on "scramble" situations every day. Shown a similar situation against the Saints, the team executed for a touchdown.
Garoppolo finished the first half 11-for-13 for 113 yards and a score.
Here are a few other notes from the second quarter.
* Cameron Fleming was called for two illegal formation penalties while playing right tackle. On the first, coach Bill Belichick appeared to have a word with the officials following the call. On the second, Belichick found Fleming to have a word with the second-year player out of Stanford. With Marcus Cannon out and Sebastian Vollmer's snaps limited to the first series of the game, Fleming has seen plenty of work on the right edge.
* On the other side of the line, left guard Shaq Mason had a difficult quarter. On two separate occasions, he found himself in the Patriots backfield on the wrong end of a collision initiated at the line of scrimmage. Thirteen-year veteran Kevin Williams, once courted by the Patriots, got the best of the rookie on one play, setting up a loss of yardage for the Patriots on a run play. Mason's strength coming out of Georgia Tech was as a run blocker but he appeared to have a difficult half in that regard on Saturday.
* Logan Ryan was targeted multiple times on the Saints final drive of the half. He lost Brandin Cooks after Cooks faked an inside move and headed toward the sideline for a long gain. He was called for holding (it was negated by another Patriots penalty) two plays later. After the Patriots allowed a touchdown, Ryan was thrown at again but helped redeem himself with a nice breakup of a pass intended for fellow Rutgers product Brandon Coleman.
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* Running back Dion Lewis was perhaps the Patriots best offensive player of the first half after Garoppolo. During the team's second-quarter scoring drive, he had two catches for 21 yards. He also showed up in pass protection with solid blocks on two separate occasions. He's in competition for the team's third-down role with players like James White, Brandon Bolden and Travaris Cadet.
* Early in the scoring drive, there was some confusion among the officials on when and how to review a questionable catch made by Brandon Gibson. Barry Anderson -- who is auditioning as a referee during the game -- and the rest of his crew appeared to get an earful from Belichick for how the situation was handled. There was a long delay in play thanks not only to the confusion, but also because the review itself went long. The Patriots also took a timeout -- perhaps so that Belichick could finish his discussion? -- leaving Garoppolo with one for the remainder of the drive.
