Ahead of this year’s training camp, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained that he was looking at his team’s performances in three categories. There is the good, the bad, and, as he called
it, the s—t that gets you beat.
For the Patriots, Sunday’s 32-13 win over the Cleveland Browns brought more good than bad. Even though the team did not play a complete game, it eventually managed to outlast its opponent to win its fifth straight game.
That said, if the coach wants to look at the Patriots through the three categories he established, who are we to disagree? So, let’s break down the Week 8 game in exactly that manner.
The good: Defensive turnaround
Even though starting fast on defense was one of the Patriots’ themes of the week, they did not manage to accomplish it against the Browns. After taking a 3-0 lead on the game’s first series, the unit of acting coordinator Zak Kuhr promptly gave up a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that did not see much resistance on New England’s part.
However, just as quickly as the Browns found the end zone their offense started to fade again. Part of it was their own limitations as a unit led by a rookie quarterback making his fourth NFL start, but New England also deserves credit: the home team largely shut down the opposing run game — lead back Quinshon Judkins finished with merely 19 yards on nine carries — and in the second half registered a pair of interceptions.
“When their gimmick plays ran out, I thought we played pretty good defense,” was head coach Mike Vrabel’s blunt assessment after the game.
“We knew we had to come out there and beat their script,” added outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings. “We knew they had a good opening script and wanted to get out there and beat it. The second drive we got things settled down and started playing our brand of defense.”
The numbers show that the Patriots did. Sure, the Browns are no offensive power house, entering the game ranked 30th in expected points added per play, but credit where it is due: the defense shook off another sluggish start to basically shut down the opponent for the rest of the afternoon. In short, it did its job.
The bad: Third down efficiency
Going up against arguably its toughest test yet, the Patriots offense did not play to its full potential in the first half. Part of it was the unit’s inability to extend drives: it managed to move the chains on only two of eight third downs, resulting in an output of just nine total points courtesy of kicker Andy Borregales.
Things improved in the second half, in large part because third downs were largely avoided, but New England still ended the game with a success rate of just 27.3% overall while going 3-for-11. For comparison, Drake Maye and company converted 41.5% of their third downs over the first seven weeks of the season.
Myles Garrett lining up on the other side did not make things any easier for the group, but the fact still remains that the Patriots were not good enough on third down. Otherwise, they might have been able to start running away from the Browns earlier in the game and finish with a success rate above 33% in the red zone.
The s—t that gets you beat: Turnover-worthy plays
One big reason for the Patriots’ current win streak is their ability to stay ahead in the turnover department. Since a five-turnover day against Pittsburgh in Week 3, they gave the ball away just three times compared to eight takeaways on defense. Of course, two of those turnovers came on Sunday versus the Browns.
The first was a Drake Maye interception in the second quarter that he himself described as a case of “looking downfield and [forgetting] the guy in front of me could jump.” In the fourth quarter, rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson lost a fumble near the Browns goal line. In addition, Maye also was strip-sacked by Myles Garrett in the second period, even though that particular ball remained with New England.
Ultimately, Cleveland was not able to take advantage of the Patriots’ ball security miscues. The Maye interception was followed by a four-play sequence resulting in a missed field goal, while the Henderson fumble set the stage for a safety on an intentional grounding call in the end zone.
All that being said, not every team is as offensively limited as the Browns. Against more potent opponents, giving the ball away twice with one extra turnover-worthy play could very well come back to haunt the Patriots.
