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Patriots Live Blog: Pats Beat Panthers 17-16

Final, 17-16 Patriots: Garoppolo did a nice job to lead that drive to run out the clock, completing the comeback victory.

Of course, there's much more to go through for the coaching staff than just the final score, but the team has to feel good about showing up and coming back in the fourth quarter.

Fourth quarter, 3:21, 17-16 Patriots: Joe Webb is one elusive quarterback ... but that's not really working out for him. He eluded a sack from Rufus Johnson and then ran a wild scramble for the second time tonight, but the play ended with an incompletion and the Panthers had to punt.

Garoppolo and Blount are heading out onto the field to try to run out the clock.

Fourth quarter, 6:14, 17-16 Patriots: Stephen Gostkowski is an absolute monster.

The kicker just booted a 53-yard field goal, and sailed inside the left goalpost about 90 percent of the way up. It would have been good from 63.

Nice job by Ryan Allen, too, to recover from a low snap and get the ball down for Gostkowski.

Fourth quarter, 8:01, 16-14 Panthers: The Patriots have an injury issue right now, as fullback James Develin needed to get carted off after suffering a right ankle injury. His ankle was planted in the ground while getting tackled by David Mayo, and he stayed down on the turf for several minutes. For a guy with that kind of toughness to stay down for that long ... it says a lot. That's not good for New England. Develin is an important player.

Fourth quarter, 10:11, 16-14 Panthers: Garoppolo looked shaky in his first couple of drives. He looked pretty darn good on this one, though.

Garoppolo pump-faked a stop-and-go route up the right sideline to Dobson, eventually hitting the receiver for a big gain of 40 from midfield. On the following play, Garoppolo looked left and then fired right, delivering a bullet to Dion Lewis, who made a spinning catch while crossing the goal line.

Nice drive by the kid, and the Pats are down by just two points.

Fourth quarter, 12:21, 16-7 Panthers: Quarterback Joe Webb just ran about a mile in order to gain two yards, and the Panthers were forced to punt.

This game has officially entered "full-on preseason game" mode. But it will be interesting to see some of the bottom-of-the-roster guys compete to try to win the game -- and spots on the team.

End of third quarter, 16-7 Panthers: An early whistle helped the Panthers on the final play of the quarter, as punt returner Damiere Byrd fumbled while getting tackled on a return to nowhere. He clearly fumbled before going down, and Darius Fleming recovered for New England, but the whistle definitely blew before the ball was recovered. It's preseason for the officials, too. Logan Ryan stripped the ball.

Garoppolo wasn't great on that drive. He threw to Krause over the middle on the first play, leading the wide receiver into a seriously heavy hit from safety Tre Boston. And then he underthrew Dobson, who was streaking deep up the left side and could have been hit for a big gain.

Third quarter, 1:41, 16-7 Panthers: Derek Anderson led the Panthers on a rather swift scoring drive, though the Panthers had to settle for a field goal after Anderson overthrew Jordan Todman on a third down from the New England 20-yard line.

It's mostly a backup game now. Jordan Richards made a nice play to stop Artis-Payne behind the line of scrimmage, but the highlights were few and far between for the Patriots on that drive.

Third quarter, 5:42, 13-7 Panthers: Jimmy Garoppolo is really lucky to have gotten through that drive without turning the football over.

His first pass, a deep out on the left side, really should have been intercepted and taken to the end zone for six, but Bene Benwikere simply dropped it. Perhaps the corner got ahead of himself.

A few plays later, Garoppolo badly underthrew Harper on the right sideline, but this time Josh Norman dropped a sure INT.

Garoppolo ended up salvaging the drive, but a block in the back call on Aaron Dobson set up a second-and-22, from which the offense really couldn't recover. The Pats went for it on fourth-and-4, and Garoppolo completed a pass over the middle to Krause, but it was short of the sticks.

Third quarter, 10:30, 13-7 Panthers: The night is, presumably, over for Tom Brady, as Jimmy Garoppolo is entering the game for the Patriots.

Third quarter, 10:37, 13-7 Panthers: The Panthers went to play-action on third-and-1 from the 2-yard line, and it paid off. Newton found fullback Mike Tolbert in the left flat, and the big fella had a step on James Morris the entire time. Touchdown Carolina.

Third quarter, 10:43, 7-6 Patriots: The Panthers are driving, and they're facing a third-and-1 at the Pats' 2-yard line coming out of a timeout. Brenton Bersin's 27-yard catch up the left seam highlighted this drive thus far.

Third quarter, 7-6 Patriots: Stephen Gostkowski hasn't gotten much action tonight, but he just booted the hell out of the opening kick of the second half. It'll be first-and-10 for Cam Newton and the Panthers at their own 20 to start the third quarter.

Halftime, 7-6 Patriots: Chandler Jones sacked Newton on first down, and that's how this game will head to halftime. Things certainly turned on a dime there, with Brady suddenly looking excellent in the Pats' final drive, and New England certainly is happy to have a lead.

They have that lead thanks to some really strong defense as well as some drops from Mr. Corey Brown. In the NFL, you take it however you can get it.

Brady is 7-for-13 for 84 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs.

Newton is 12-for-23 for 103 yards, 0 TDs and 0 INTs.

The Patriots' leading rushers are Brady (18 yards, 2 carries) and Bolden (12 yards, 5 carries) while Fozzy Whittaker leads the way for Carolina with 17 yards on two carries.

It's been a tight end kind of game, as Chandler (3 receptions, 40 yards, TD) and Olsen (5 receptions, 43 yards) lead the way for their respective teams.

Second quarter, :50, 7-6 Patriots: Now that's more what we've grown accustomed to seeing from Brady and the Patriots offense.

Brady was surgical in running the two-minute drill, going 5-for-6 for 71 yards and a touchdown to give the Patriots a lead.

He capped off the drive with a picture-perfect lob pass to Scott Chandler at the front left pylon, a catch he made despite perfect coverage from linebacker Thomas Davis. It was similar to Brady's game-winning TD to LaFell in the Ravens playoff game last year. Just a perfect play.

The other highlight of the drive came on a 29-yard pass to Amendola up the left seam.

First quarter, 2:00, 6-0 Panthers: Would you look at that? A positive play for the Patriots offense?

Brady again had to deal with pressure as his pocket collapsed, but he stepped up and delivered a strike to Scott Chandler for a gain of 15 before the two-minute warning.

First quarter, 2:15, 6-0 Panthers: The Patriots' defense has been very good tonight, but on this drive, they owe thanks to Corey Brown.

Not only did Brown drop the aforementioned easy touchdown, but on third-and-5 in the red zone, he let a pass bounce right off his chest, forcing Carolina to settle for another field goal.

Brown was thanked by the home fans with some serious booing after that bad drop.

On the play prior, Tarell Brown made a deft veteran play to break up a pass to Corey Brown in the end zone.

Second quarter, 4:14, 3-0 Panthers: The shine for Butler has worn a bit on this drive, as his illegal contact penalty on the first play of the drive led to offsetting penalties that negated a Patriots sack. And just now, he got beat cleanly by Corey Brown up the right sideline, but Brown just dropped what would have been an easy touchdown.

The Panthers will face a second-and-10 from the New England 30-yard line coming out of this current timeout.

Second quarter, 7:41, 3-0 Panthers: Short run. Incompletion to Wayne. Short run to nowhere. Punt.

It's still the preseason ... and Edelman and Gronkowski aren't in there ... nor is Bryan Stork or Ryan Wendell ... but the Patriots' offense has some issues.

Brady is 2-for-7 for 13 yards with two picks. Brady's also the leading rusher. That's not a recipe for much success.

Second quarter, 9:06, 3-0 Panthers: It's really been a stark contrast between the New England offense and defense tonight. The defense maybe needed an offensive holding penalty to help them out on that drive by negating a long Greg Olsen completion, but once again the D got results and forced a punt.

On second-and-20, second-yard D-lineman Dominique Easley fought through the line and grabbed hold of Newton, bringing down the big QB for a 12-yard loss. On third-and-32, Newton had no deep options and had to settle for a short dump pass.

Now it's time to see if Brady and the offense can generate something -- anything, really -- which has proven to be rather difficult thus far.

End of first quarter, 3-0 Panthers: The Patriots' run blocking has just been atrocious this preseason, and that continues tonight.

After Jonas Gray charged forward for a gain of nine yards on first down, he was stuffed for a loss of a yard on the following play. After a New England timeout, the Patriots went with a sweep to the right side to Brandon Bolden, but he had absolutely nowhere to go and took a two-yard loss.

The Pats will punt to start the second quarter. Their drives so far:

3 plays, 8 yards, PUNT
3 plays, 1 yard, PUNT
4 plays, 15 yards, INTERCEPTION
3 plays, 11 yards, INTERCEPTION
3 plays, 7 yards, PUNT

First quarter, 1:21, 3-0 Panthers: Hey, this Malcolm Butler kid can play.

He made a great play to work his arm around receiver Ted Ginn on a slant to break up a pass on second down, and he was tight in coverage on Corey Brown on third down, forcing a Carolina punt.

Brown has been a real bright spot for New England tongiht.

First quarter, 1:43, 3-0 Panthers: Whoa, boy. Tom Brady just threw another interception.

The Pats came out in an odd formation with three people in the backfield with Brady. The QB looked for Dobson over the middle, but safety Kurt Coleman made a great break on the ball and picked off the pass.

First quarter, 3:00, 3-0 Panthers: The defense did allow the Panthers to drive half the field, but did stiffen up inside the 10-yard line. Jabaal Sheard stopped Stewart in the backfield on first down, Jerod Mayo stopped Simonson on the 2-yard line after a pass from Newton on second down, and good coverage led Newton to float a pass to nobody on third down.

The Panthers had to settle for a short field goal.

One play of note on that drive came when Duron Harmon failed to recognize a swing route from the right slot, when Malcolm Butler was in man coverage on the outside. Butler was essentially getting picked as the pass sailed over his head to Jericho Cotchery. Harmon was very late to get there on the receiver.

First quarter, 7:14, 0-0: Things were looking up for Tom Brady and the Patriots, after the quarterback scrambled for nine yards on a third down to move the chains and get the offense across the 50-yard line. But then it all evaporated.

Brady threw behind Aaron Dobson up the left seam, forcing the receiver to turn his body back toward the sideline. He got his hands on the ball but couldn't secure it, and veteran defensive back Charles Tillman ripped the ball out of Dobson's hands to intercept the pass while lying on the ground. It was not Brady's best pass for sure.

Tillman returned it all the way out to the Carolina 44-yard line. The play was reviewed, both for the INT and to see if Tillman was down by contact, but the call on the field was upheld.

First quarter, 9:41, 0-0: The defense looks awfully good thus far.

Tarell Brown made a great play to break up a pass to Corey Brown over the middle on first down. Cam Newton threw incomplete on second down, and on third down, the quarterback absorbed a shot from Jamie Collins, forcing an overthrow to Ted Ginn.

First quarter, 10:05, 0-0: Another three-and-out for Tom Brady and the offense.

On first down, Brady appeared to have lost his footing when stepping up in the pocket, forcing him to take a sack. On second down, it looked like newcomer Reggie Wayne ran the wrong route, so Brady threw the ball out of bounds. And on third down, when facing pressure in the pocket, Brady stepped up and decided to scramble for a gain of nine yards. Given that it was third-and-18, that didn't do a whole lot.

Yet again, the Patriots offense is just not clicking.

First quarter, 11:37, 0-0: The offense might not have gotten off to the greatest start, but the Patriots' defense surely came to play.

The Panthers faced a third-and-1 at the New England 39-yard line, but Chandler Jones fought into the backfield to disrupt the play. Jonathan Stewart was taken down by a whole host of blue jerseys. The Panthers decided to go for it on fourth-and-2, but this time Jamie Collins broke through the line of scrimmage to stop him. Jerod Mayo did the honors of wrapping up Stewart, forcing a turnover on downs.

The D came out similarly against the Packers. So far this preseason, they've come up with some big plays early in games.

First quarter, 13:30, 0-0: The Tom Brady-led Patriots offense continues to sputter this preseason.

Brady hit James Develin in the left flat for a gain of seven yards on first down, but after a no-gain from Jonas Gray, Brady overthrew a well-covered Scott Chandler up the left sideline.

A Shaq Mason hands to the face penalty was declined by Carolina, and the Pats were forced to punt.

It's been a very rough go for the Patriots offense thus far this preseason, albeit in limited action.

First quarter, 15:00: The Patriots will start this one on offense.

The opening kick went deep into the end zone, and on comes Tom Brady to start at the 20-yard line.

7:24 p.m.: Jonathan Kraft said on the Sports Hub that the Patriots have never apologized to Chris Mortensen. I guess that guy struggles to be accurate when reporting on the Patriots.

As for the game tonight, the Pats certainly look ready to play:

4 p.m.: The preseason is not always the most exciting time on the football calendar, but tonight should be decent. I promise!

The "all-important" third preseason game is on tap in Carolina, and the events on the field should resemble those of a real life football game.

Regarding the Patriots, there is a great deal of intrigue regarding how Bill Belichick will play his quarterbacks. Will Tom Brady start and play into the third quarter, despite his undetermined suspension fate? Would Jimmy Garoppolo get a chance to work with the starters, just in case?

That'll be interesting to watch, as will a number of other areas, which I've conveniently provided for you in list form right here.

As for the game, we'll have all the updates right here in the live blog all night long, so check back often as the Patriots and Panthers square off in what will very closely resemble an NFL game for at least three quarters.

Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

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