The complete turnaround by the Patriots (6-4 overall, 2-4 home) over the last month has been nothing short of remarkable. This afternoon at Gillette Stadium, Cleveland (5-5 overall, 2-3 away) marched down the field on an impressive opening drive (11 plays, 84 yards, 4:55) and capped it off with a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield (11-of-21 for 73 yards, TD, INT) to tight end Austin Hooper. No sweat, Browns kicker Chase McLaughlin's extra point was the last point of the entire game for Cleveland as New England rattled off 45 consecutive points en route to a throughly impressive 45-7 victory. Pats rookie quarterback Mac Jones (19-of-23 for 198 yards, 3 TDs) had his best and most efficient game as a pro and New England's defense combiend for five sacks as they won their fourth game in a row.
Earlier this season, we wondered if Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was losing his fastball on the sidelines and now, if he keeps this up he has to be considered a front-runner for the NFL Coach of the Year (which would be his 4th, tying Don Shula for the most all-time). More importantly, his team has transformed itself from an afterthought to one of the hottest in the league that seems to get better every week not to mention a legitimate threat in the weak AFC. Tight end Hunter Henry caught two touchdown passes (giving him TD catches in 6 straight games and 8 overall in that time span) and rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson (20 carries, 100 yards, 2 TDs; 14 yards receiving) returned from last week's concussion to record a solid performance. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (4 catches, 98 yards, TD; 3 rushes, 43 yards) has also proven to be a valuable weapon for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as he continues to open up what started out as a pretty basic playbook in 2021.
This being the Browns, they just had to fall apart in epic fashion. Mayfield hurt his knee which forced his backup Case Keenum to finish the game for him. The two teams' numbers on third down told the entire story as New England was seven-for-nine and Cleveland was one-for-11. Henry caught a third yard touchdown pass from Jones late in the first quarter and Nick Fok's point-after tied it at seven. After Patriots safety Kyle Dugger picked off Mayfield and returned the interception to Cleveland's five-yard line, it took one play for Stevenson to punch it in and give New England a lead that they would never relinquish. Folk's kick made it 14-7 and that quickly became 21-7 after Jones' strike through two defenders to Bourne for a leaping 23-yard touchdown catch. Folk's 38-yard field goal with 17 seconds left in the second quarter handed the Patriots a commanding 24-7 lead at halftime.
Stevenson added a two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Folk's extra point made it 31-7 in favor of the home team. In the fourth quarter, Henry caught another three-yard touchdown from Jones and Folk hit another point after. Finally, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers ended the highlight reel filled day for the Pats with an 11-yard touchdown catch and run from backup quarterback Brian Hoyer-his first TD catch in the NFL after three long seasons. Folk's sixth point after gave New England its final margain of 45-7.
It will be a short week for the Pats as they will travel to Mercedes Benz Stadium for a Thursday Night Football (8:20, Fox) matchup with the Falcons (4-5 overall, 1-3 home). Atlanta had been playing alright until they got smoked 43-3 this afternoon in Dallas (7-2). Did I mention that they have another rookie head coach-the immortal Arthur Smith-for Belchick to beat up on? So yeah, as always anything can happen in the NFL (as proven every week in this crazy year) but you have to like the Patriots' chances to keep their win streak rolling.
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