CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Quarterback Tom Brady showed off his old form and directed two first-half scoring drives to help the New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 19-17 in NFL preseason action Friday night.
Brady, who is suspended for the first four regular-season games for Deflategate, didn’t enter the game until late in the first quarter and directed the Patriots down the field, highlighted by a 37-yard pass to Aaron Dobson.
Brady, however, threw two incompletions in the red zone and Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 Patriots lead with 23 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Panthers responded with a good-looking drive but it stalled when Cam Newton threw his second interception of the game. Defensive end Chris Long dropped back into coverage and tipped Newton’s pass into the hands of safety Devin McCourty with 11:38 left in the second quarter.
Brady added to the lead and showed off midseason form when he dropped a 33-yard TD pass into the arms of Chris Hogan for a 9-0 Pats lead with 10:02 left in the half.
A 24-yard run by running back Tyler Gaffney early in the drive helped set up the TD. The Pats failed on their two-point conversion attempt.
The Panthers finally broke into the scoring column with 7:49 left in the third quarter when Graham Gano hit a 29-yard field goal. Newton failed to convert on second and third downs, throwing two incompletions.
The Patriots next TD was set up by Cyrus Jones 60-yard punt return. Third-string QB Jacoby Brissett then entered the game, taking over for a struggling Jimmy Garoppolo.
Brissett completed three passes, the third a 12-yard TD pass to DeAndre Carter for a 16-3 lead with 5:25 left.
Brissett ended up completing his first eight passes and set up another scoring drive when Gostkowski made a 30-yard field goal.
Carolina added two late TDs, the first with 3:04 left in the game when Joe Webb hit Miles Shuler with an 18-yard TD pass.
Falcons rookie sidelined
Atlanta Falcons rookie safety Keanu Neal is expected to be sidelined for at least three weeks after hurting his knee in Thursday’s preseason game against the Miami Dolphins.
The Falcons on Friday said an MRI exam revealed a “minor” injury that will require Neal to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on Monday. The team listed the timetable for his recovery as three to four weeks.
Neal, the No. 17 overall pick in this year’s draft, was expected to start for Atlanta in the season opener against Tampa Bay on Sept. 11. Falcons coach Dan Quinn told reporters that the “worst-case” scenario for Neal, 21, would be to miss the first three games of the regular season.
Colts officials on NFL committees
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell named two Indianapolis Colts vice chair/owners to separate league committees for the 2016 season.
Carlie Irsay-Gordon was added to the league’s digital media committee and sister Kalen Jackson to the employee benefits committee.
Irsay-Gordon enters her fifth season as vice chair/owner with the Colts. She is the only active female member of the digital media committee, which is responsible for setting strategies and policies related to digital initiatives across the league and clubs.
Jackson is entering her fifth season as vice chair/owner of the Colts. She is the youngest active member of the employee benefits committee, which is responsible for administering club and league benefit plans, including plan design and amendment, benefit and administrative expense payments and employee eligibility issues.