NEW ORLEANS -- It won't draw the sort of national attention the much-discussed fourth-and-2 two weeks ago in Indianapolis elicited, but one of the Patriots' fourth-down attempts from Monday night's loss to the Saints is sure to be criticized by some.

Facing fourth-and-3 from the New Orleans 10 and staring at a two-touchdown deficit, the Patriots elected to go for the first down in lieu of a field goal with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Quarterback Tom Brady tried to find wide receiver Randy Moss on an out route, but was forced to throw under pressure and the ball was batted down by cornerback Mike McKenzie, causing a turnover on downs.

Should the Patriots have settled for a field goal?

"There was no doubt that we needed some points at that point," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "I thought that we were running the game well at that point, offensively. I thought that we needed more than a field goal the way the game was going. Mike made a good play over there"

After the Patriots pulled within a touchdown at 24-17 on their opening drive of the second half, the Saints answered with a three-play, 74-yard drive that took just 1:22 to make it a two-touchdown game again. What's more, quarterback Drew Brees hit Marques Colston for 68 yards on the first play of the drive and the Patriots offense was back on the field before it even had time to catch its breath.

The Patriots converted a pair of fourth-down attempts on their opening drive, which culminated with a four-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney.