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Todd Graffagnini's observations from Saints-Dolphins preseason game

Bridgewater throws first TD of preseason

Saints players warm up for their final preseason game of 2019 as they host the Miami Dolphins.

1.      Lightning fast: After the marathon/flag fest last Saturday in the Meadowlands against the Jets, the New Orleans Saints' final preseason game against the Miami Dolphins had a much more normal rhythm and feel to it. The first half in the Mercedes Benz Superdome lasted one hour and 10 minutes of real time, while the first quarter alone lasted 49 minutes against New York. The Saints were only penalized four times for 35 yards, a far cry from the 16 for 142 from a week ago. The game itself lasted two hours, 45 minutes, a full hour less than the contest at MetLife Stadium.

2.      Teddy's TD: After a solid training camp, Saints fans were waiting for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s first drive resulting in a touchdown. In his previous scoring drives, all were capped off by a Wil Lutz field goal. Well everyone got their wish early in the second quarter when Bridgewater engineered a 10-play 93-yard drive culminating in his first touchdown pass of the preseason, a 12-yard strike to rookie wideout Emmanuel Butler. Earlier in the drive, Bridgewater three his best pass of the preseason, a 43-yard perfectly placed ball to Lil'Jordan Humphrey to set up the touchdown a couple plays later. Bridgewater without question has solidified his role as the backup quarterback.

3.      Drama free camp: As the 2019 edition of training camp and preseason came to a close Thursday night, it's pretty safe to say that was about as stress free a camp as you really can ask for, when you're talking about distractions (see Oakland and Dallas) and serious injuries to front-line players. Other than the Michael Thomas "holdout", if you even want to call it that, during the first week that was pretty much it. Everyday the team came in, got its work done and got a little better. Now the Saints are focused and ready for what could be another special NFL season for the Black and Gold.

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