Patriots Crush Browns 45-7

Another dominating performance as the New England Patriots announced their return to relevance with a 45-7 thrashing of the Cleveland Browns. With the win they kept pace with victorious Buffalo in the AFC East and they ticked up to the #6 seed in the AFC (from #7 last week). Next up is a quick-turnaround game in Atlanta this Thursday… a Falcons team that lost 45-3 yesterday.

The game was decided in the first four drives.

Cleveland came out with a good offensive plan, attacking with a great mix of run/pass and going up-tempo to stop the Patriots from substituting. It looked like they weren’t going to miss their star running back Nick Chubb at all. The result was an 84-yard touchdown drive.

In response, the Pats needed a long drive to give their defense a rest and give them time to make adjustments. And they did just that. They converted three crucial third downs, overcame a holding penalty, and drove for an 87-yard touchdown drive of their own. They also took 9:39 off the clock, giving their D what they needed.

The adjustments and the rest paid immediate dividends. Two plays later, Cleveland QB Baker Mayfield threw a terrible interception to Pats safety Kyle Dugger, who returned it to the Browns five yard line. One play later, the Patriots led 14-7, and the rout had begun.

The Browns scored the first 7 points because they had a good offensive plan and executed it well. The Patriot scored the next 45 points because they had a good offensive plan and because they made better defensive and offensive adjustments during the game.

On defense, they switched between 2-gap and 1-gap on the line of scrimmage, they mixed coverages to confuse the Browns, and rallied to make tackles after the catch. And they waited for Cleveland to implode, which they did, drive after drive.

On offense, they figured out the Browns were over-pursuing, so they went with misdirection and got chunk plays over and over. They also went with quick throws to stop Cleveland’s formidable pass rush, and the long drives eventually wore out the Browns D.

Quarteback Mac Jones was commanding yet efficient, completing 19 of 23 (83%) for 198 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 picks, and a 142.1 QB rating. He had some great completions to Hunter Henry and especially to Kendrick Bourne — a great throw and even better catch for a touchdown.

But in the overall picture, his three completions for third-down conversions on the very first drive of the game were probably the most important of the game. Without those, the game might have been a slogfest. With them, it was a blowout.

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson cut, sprinted, and bulled his way to 100 yards on 20 carries, and drove two runs into the end zone. And long-time special teamer Brandon Bolden is doing great work replacing James White, running three times and catching three passes, for 32 and 38 yards, respectively.

When Damien Harris returns, this group will be well-suited and prepped for football when the weather turns cold.

Among the receivers, Kendrick Bourne had himself a day. In addition to the great TD catch, he had three end-around runs for 43 yards. Henry got himself two more touchdowns and is the best red-zone threat on the team. And wideout Jakobi Meyers finally, finally got his first touchdown, on a short throw and a nice run to paydirt.

The offensive line was buoyed by the return of Trent Brown, back from injury. They road-graded the Browns defensive, which is really designed to get to the quarterback. Along with fullback Jacob Johnson, they powered a running attack that gained 5.4 yards a carry and allowed just two sacks and two QB hits.

Early in the year people worried about all the hits Mac Jones was taking. Yesterday the Patriots delivered the punishment, hitting the Browns quarterbacks 10 times and sacking them 5 times. They were all over Mayfield, forcing a 56.2 QB rating and his longest completion was just 13 yards.

The D-line did a great job plugging holes and occupying blockers at the line of scrimmage. Davon Godchaux and Christian Barmore are huge run stuffers, and they are rotating in players I’ve never heard of before (Carl Davis?). With linebackers Matthew Judon and Josh Uche rushing from the outside, it’s a formidable combination that gets after the run and the pass.

Speaking of linebackers, Dont’a Hightower continued his improvement, notching six tackles and sharing a sack with Judon. He’s not where he was a few years ago, but better now than at the beginning of the year. And Ja’Whaun Bentley led the team with seven tackles, including a big one for a loss when the game was still in doubt.

In the secondary, Dugger led with six tackles, he had the interception and also another pass defended. The rest of the secondary mostly had tight coverage, with the exception of Jalen Mills, who has struggled as he has moved up the cornerback depth chart. On the other hand, Myles Bryant has flourished with his increased playing time; might be time to get him on the field more.

Special teams weren’t as great as what I’ve read in the media. Twice Jakobi Meyers didn’t fair catch a ball and it ended up rolling for more yards (once ending up at the 1 yard line). And Jake Bailey’s kickoffs aren’t going into/through the end zone like they used to. Not horrible but not as great as what most of the media are portraying. And the team will benefit when return man Gunner Olszewski returns from concussion protocol.

The coaching mismatch was epic. Cleveland had a good plan coming in but didn’t appear to make any adjustments. The Patriots had a good plan, too, and they adjusted. The Browns have a talented team — so 45 unanswered points tells you all you need to know about how their coaches did yesterday.

Where does that leave us? The Pats are solidifying their position in the playoff hunt. But they don’t have a large margin for error — a loss this Thursday and they could be out of the playoffs seeding by Sunday. Still, four straight wins and a 6-4 record is pretty good given how they started the year.

Biggest on-going concern: With things rounding into form, it’s probably injuries. Harris and Olszewski were out with concussions, Bailey and kicker Nick Folk are on the injury report weekly (and Bailey doesn’t look right), and they are still thin at running back and corner.

Non-QB MVP: Bourne, mostly because he made more big big plays than the other candidates for this most coveted of awards.

Statistical oddity: Every time the Patriots took over inside their own ten yard line, they drove 90+ yards for a touchdown.

Bonus oddity: The Patriots and Bills scored the same number of points yesterday (45), and they also scored the same number of points in week 1 (16). Just an oddity, nothing earth-shattering.

Double bonus oddity: The Pats are now 6-0 in games I do not attend, and 0-4 in games I do attend. Anyone want to bribe me not to go to the Titans game in a few weeks? Anyone

Water-cooler wisdom: “If the Patriots were a stock, I’d go long on them.”

Keep the faith,

- Scott

PS. 6-4!