Tom Brady was masterful, showing no ill effects from a knee injury that originally had all of New England holding their breath on Wednesday - and once Ryan Mallett got warmed up he showed why he was the subject of trade rumors all offseason, and also why coach Bill Belichick reportedly wanted a king's ransom for the third year gunslinger.Mallett played all of the second quarter, leading all passers with 137 yards on 12 of 20 passing - including a 22 yard scoring strike to the rookie tight end Sudfeld, who made an acrobatic catch with two defenders draped over him.
Earlier in the game, Sudfeld also caught a 2 point conversion from Brady after he laced a 26 yard bullet to Amendola for the Patriots' first score.
Brandon Spikes led an aggressive defensive effort for New England, collecting two of New England's four sacks - Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman the victim of the first three. Freeman was under duress for the duration of his two series as he attempts to hold on to his starting job, completing two of three passing attempts for eight yards before yielding to rookie Mike Glennon.
Glennon was the more effective of the two, going 12 of 22 for 121 yards and two scores, but also threw the interception that Ryan returned for what proved to be the winning score.
Tampa Bay went to their running game in the second half and compiled 158 yards, but failed to pick up crucial yards when they needed them deep in Patriots territory. The Patriots also turned to the running game in the second half by default, as Mallett gave way to Tim Tebow - the polarizing third string quarterback rushing six times for 30 of the Patriots 139 yards.
Brady opened the scoring with the strike to a wide open Amendola, capping a 15 play, 80 yard opening drive that took nearly seven minutes off the 1st quarter clock, then threaded the needle high to the 6' 7" Sudfeld, who pulled down the two-point conversion for an 8-0 New England lead.
Brady left the game after two series, as New England appeared to want to work on the passing game with their two-time MVP in the game - completing 11 of 12 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown before being lifted for Mallett
A Stephen Gostkowski field goal made the score 11-0 before Marquice Cole and Ryan lost track of Tampa's Kevin Ogletree for a 13 yard score from Glennon to slice the lead to four, then Sudfeld's circus catch built the lead back to double digits and a Derek Dimke field goal made the halftime score 18-10.
Logan Ryan jumped a Glennon pass midway through the third quarter to give the Patriots a two score lead before the Bucs found their rhythm and scored 11 points in the final frame, but came up short on a 4th and one from midfield late in the game and New England ran out the clock.
New England travels to Detroit next Thursday to take on the Lions in the third preseason game for each, as the projected starters should play well into the second half.
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