Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Patriots gave up their first points since the first half of Week Six on Sunday, but the wait for their first loss of the 2019 season will go on at least one more week.
New England forced three early turnovers to build a 17-0 lead and then scored 10 straight points in the second half on their way to a 27-13 win over the Browns. The victory is the 300th of Bill Belichick’s head coaching career over the regular season and postseason with the first coming as the Browns coach against the Patriots in 1991.
In addition to making that history, the win also leaves the Patriots 8-0 with a trip to Baltimore next on the schedule.
Those three turnovers turned into 14 points as Dont'a Hightower returned a fumble for a touchdown and Tom Brady hit Julian Edelman for a score a few plays after Lawrence Guy picked off a Baker Mayfield shovel pass. That touchdown drive was only 11 yards and the Patriots would put together a more elaborate 84-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter after the Browns closed within a touchdown.
That drive was something of an outlier as the Patriots offense struggled to find their way into the end zone for much of the afternoon. Tom Brady was 20-of-36 for 259 yards, including a screen to James White that turned into a 59-yard gain that set up Edelman’s second touchdown of the game in the third quarter.
Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu had two catches for 23 yards in his Patriots debut while Edelman led the way with eight catches for 78 yards.
The offense didn’t overwhelm the Browns and kicker Mike Nugent had one field goal blocked while missing another, but the defense made sure neither got in the way of the Patriots winning the game. They sacked Mayfield five times and he got up from the last of them with a grimace on his face.
One of those sacks came on a fourth-and-16 from deep inside Browns territory in the fourth quarter. There’s nothing odd about going for it while down three scores at that point, but the Browns initially lined up to punt and false started before putting the offense on the field.
Tracy Wolfson of CBS said the team false started on purpose in order to protect their only remaining timeout and head coach Freddie Kitchens will surely be asked about that after the game. He’ll likely be asked about the lack of discipline shown by 13 penalties, two failed replay review challenges and what he plans to do to stop the bleeding that his team has done over the course of their current three-game losing streak.
Answers to the last one would be most welcome for a 2-5 team, although one imagines Kitchens would have already provided them if they were close at hand.