Four in a row became five in a row on Sunday.
The New England Patriots defeated the Cleveland Browns by a score of 32-13 at Gillette Stadium, where relentless pass rush and an early interception were outlasted.
Here’s glance back on the 1 p.m. ET kickoff as head coach Mike Vrabel’s side nears November with a 6-2 record.
Maye weathers top-flight pass defense
One of the NFL’s top passing games crossed paths with another. Just on different sides of the football. The Browns headed to Foxborough allowing a 58.8 percent completion rate, 5.1 yards per attempt and 173.7 yards per game to opposing offenses.
It would be up to Drake Maye to test the averages. A week removed from setting a franchise record, the Patriots quarterback went 18-of-24 for 282 yards on Sunday. He threw three touchdowns and one interception.
Breaking the huddle in “12” personnel, the opening drive spanned 12 plays. It ended down at the goal line with a sack and a field goal. Next time out, there would be a three-and-out on as many handoffs. And on third down in the second quarter, spying rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger hid in plain sight as Maye was picked off for the first time in over a month.
But a 31-yard connection down the seam to former Browns tight end Austin Hooper set up a field goal. A 44-yarder to DeMario Douglas and a 21-yarder to fellow wide receiver Kayshon Boutte made a 7-6 deficit a 9-7 lead at halftime.
Coming out of it, Maye hit Hunter Henry for the tight end’s fourth touchdown catch of the fall. There’d be more scoring strikes to come. The 23-year-old captain under center added 50 yards as a rusher, led by a pickup of 28.
Diggs spikes first TD as a Patriot, while Boutte adds another
Five wide receivers were in uniform for New England on Sunday. Stefon Diggs was certainly one of them.
In a stacked formation alongside fellow starter Mack Hollins, who posted a team-high 89 yards, the depth chart’s eldest statesman scored his first touchdown as a Patriot. It arrived on third-and-goal in the third quarter. And on his 42nd catch of the campaign. A 23-7 game was the result.
Diggs finished with 14 yards across a trio of catches versus Cleveland. He wouldn’t be the only wideout to find the end zone by afternoon’s end. Boutte, a game captain, quickly beat backup cornerback Dom Jones’ coverage. Over the shoulders from 39 yards away, New England’s lead extended to 30-7. The LSU product now has scored seven of his eight career touchdowns since late last December.
Henderson sets career high, loses fumble late
Rushing efficiency had been found one Sunday ago. Against a Cleveland defense conceding 3.3 yards per carry and a chain-moving rate of 16.4 percent, it’d be a little harder to find.
Rhamondre Stevenson finished with 34 rushing yards over the course of 14 tries. The starting running back was halted in the backfield on a third-and-1 shotgun run, but added 15 yards as a receiver.
There’d be more rotating. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson spelled in for a career-high 75 rushing yards on 10 opportunities. Those opportunities began with a handoff for 12 and a pitch for 18 on the initial series. A surge for 27 off the edge arrived after halftime for a rookie who played a season-low nine offensive snaps last week. He lost a fumble with 4:51 remaining at the goal line. The position was rounded out by three-time standard elevation Terrell Jennings.
Offensive line overmatched by Garrett’s five sacks
Myles Garrett was in town. There was no changing that reality. The former NFL Defensive Player of the Year entered the matinee with 107.5 sacks through 124 career games. He’d go on to reset league history for the most by a player under age 30.
Around a chipping tight end and a rookie left tackle, the Browns defensive end forced a field goal with a third-and-goal takedown. A quarterback pressure forced a turnover soon after. And on a stunt, his second sack of the afternoon left the Patriots settling for another field goal. Three sacks and a strip were in the books by halftime. A fourth and fifth would get there after halftime, too, a franchise record.
No. 4 overall pick Will Campbell and No. 95 overall pick Jared Wilson manned the blindside of the pass protection. Next to the draft choices from the SEC, the point of attack was pushed back on a challenging day for center Garrett Bradbury as well as right guard Mike Onwenu and right tackle Morgan Moses.
Trickery ranging from a jet sweep to a double pass helped buy time for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Even so, Cleveland’s front finished with six sacks.
After 70-yard drive, Gabriel picked twice
Dillon Gabriel completed 21-of-35 passes for 156 yards in his first meeting with the Patriots. The Browns quarterback by way of Central Florida, Oklahoma and Oregon finished with touchdowns to tight ends Harold Fannin Jr. and David Njoku. He also finished with two interceptions and intentional grounding for a safety.
No pass hit the turf on the initial drive. A zone blitz and blown coverage on a corner route gave way to an 18-yard touchdown instead. But a missed field goal and a pick by linebacker and captain Robert Spillane would follow that 70-yard surge on Sunday.
Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins, who missed the previous two games with a hamstring injury, got the next pick on the heels of a fourth-and-1 conversion. The starter tracked a downfield ball through the shadows like a centerfielder late in the third quarter, leaping, gloving and surviving the fall his second interception of the year.
Fellow safety Kyle Dugger, the lone questionable game status on the final injury report, went to the inactives list 90 minutes prior to kickoff. In his absence, recent signing Richie Grant served as a standard elevation from the practice squad for a secondary that started just a trio of defensive backs.
Nowhere to run against New England’s front
The Patriots tallied one sack against the visiting quarterback. Yet there was also another rookie to account for behind him. Quinshon Judkins entered the matinee with 529 yards and five touchdowns from scrimmage through six NFL starts.
The running back out of Ole Miss and Ohio State went on to log 17 yards worth of offense over the course of 12 combined carries and catches. He stood with 1.3 yards per touch by intermission and was later downgraded to out because of a shoulder injury.
Nose tackle Khyiris Tonga brought down a tackle for loss on a screen pass to begin things. New England opened in goal-line personnel with defensive tackles Milton Williams and Joshua Farmer also in the trenches. Harold Landry III and AFC Defensive Player of the Week K’Lavon Chaisson started at outside linebacker.
Keion White became a healthy scratch on Sunday. As the Patriots went without the 2023 draft choice, veteran Anfernee Jennings found himself back on the edge and in the sack column for the first time this season.
Borregales hitting his stride
Sunday did not go quietly on special teams for the Patriots. A successful onside kick was in the cards for the Browns in the fourth quarter. It was preceded by 30 yards worth of penalties between a facemask, an illegal formation and a holding call.
But there was consistency through the uprights.
Patriots kicker Andy Borregales went 3-of-3 on field goals and 3-of-3 on extra points. The rookie out of Miami made good from 36, 32 and 42 yards. He hasn’t missed the mark in either capacity since the second week of September.
