Patriots vs. Saints: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Preseason

A 35-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski with 14 seconds remaining in the game lifted the New England Patriots to a 26-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Saturday night. 

Led by Jimmy Garoppolo, the Patriots battled back from a 21-0 deficit by scoring on five of their final six drives of the game.

Garoppolo went 28-of-33 for 269 yards with a touchdown and interception for the Patriots' first win of the 2015 preseason.

However, it was Drew Brees who showed early on that he wasn't missing his former favorite target Jimmy Graham. Playing in the first quarter, Brees was 8-of-10 for 159 yards and two touchdowns, earning him a perfect 158.3 passer rating. 

His nicest pass of the day was his second touchdown pass, a 45-yard bomb to Brandin Cooks, which the Saints relayed video of:

Cooks had himself a monster game, reeling in four receptions on four targets for 117 yards, a 29.3 average. The Saints offense showed it was plenty capable of putting up the big play despite the lack of big receiving talent, as the Baton Rouge Advocate's Les East pointed out:

The Saints had another receiver who had a pair of big catches, as Josh Morgan put up 59 yards on two catches. At this point, it really doesn't matter who lines up as a receiver for the Saints because Brees will find them. 

Brees' first touchdown pass of the night came on a slant to the new starting tight end Benjamin Watson. WWL-TV's Lyons Yellin is warning fans now to get used to that sight:

Tom Brady got the start yet again despite facing a suspension, but he didn't muster much on his two series, going three and out on both occasions. 

Garoppolo, who is set to start the first four games of the season, checked in and took the reins for the rest of the contest. He started well, going 11-of-13 for 113 yards in the first half, including this touchdown pass to Chris Harper:

While the talent might have dipped as the game progressed, Garoppolo continued to bring the Patriots right back from a 21-0 deficit to make it 21-20 after New England failed a two-point conversion attempt. The second-year quarterback was showing plenty of maturity during the comeback effort, as the Boston Globe's Ben Volin noted:

A Saints field goal with 8:54 remaining in the game put New Orleans up four before a Gostkowski field goal brought the Patriots within one with 4:04 to go. Stopping the Saints one last time, the Patriots started their final drive at the New Orleans 45-yard-line and Garoppolo delivered a 20-yard pass to Jonathan Krause to get New England into field-goal range for Gostkowski to hit the game-winner.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com