Fan Notes from the Patriots’ win over the Browns

I hope everyone got outside and did something fun this weekend. For some reason I’ll never know or understand, we’ve all seen the sun out past 4:30 p.m. ET for the last time this year. The extra hour of sleep and the extra hour of staying out at the bars used to be nice – few things ring sweeter to a 22-year-old’s ear’s than that time travel last call where the drinks are 1985 prices for that additional hour of boozing – but now that I’m an old man who wakes up early regardless and hasn’t heard a bartender

yell for last call in almost a decade, there’s just nothing positive that comes out of 4 p.m. sunsets and perpetual darkness for the next six months.

On the plus side, the New England Patriots just won their fifth straight game, taking the Cleveland Browns behind the woodshed to the tune of a 32-13 beatdown that wasn’t even that close. It definitely wasn’t perfect, but this team just keeps getting better every week, and the rest of the league seems to just get worse. Hard not to be excited for the second half of the season.

1. And that’s what I want to kick these Fan Notes off with: excitement. This is an exciting team. They’re fun to watch. There’s a level of enjoyment I’m experiencing watching he 2025 Patriots that I didn’t even get during the Tom Brady Era. While I wouldn’t trade the Tommy B years for anything in the world, it was simply impossible for those teams to overachive. The expectations were so high for the Brady-led Patriots that even when they met them, the narrative was that they only won by one score or the defense is a disaster or Brady lost his deep ball or whatever it was. You never looked beyond each individual season with those teams because every year the only options were win a Super Bowl or suffer epic embarrassment and failure.
2. But in the 2025 squad, we have a young, talented group of kids who are exceeding expectations. They’re gelling as a unit. They have highly skilled players at all the important positions. They’re already won for the year in a lot of ways and are trending strongly upwards. They have a ton of cap space going into next season, and if things keep going the way they’re going, this unit could become championship caliber. I still don’t think they’re quite there yet, but they’re for sure in the neighborhood and asking questions.
3. And what’s more, they’re fun to watch. The playcalling is exciting. They can attack all three levels of the field in the passing game and are capable of explosive plays on the ground. The defense hasn’t allowed a single running back to eclipse 50 yards on the ground and players are stepping up at every level. I’ve been very vocal about how over the last few years, Sundays at 1 PM were a real slog. But I look forward to the games each week now, and it’s nice to have that back.
4. I mean no team should have to go a whole four years without their team turning it around, right?
5. In what has become a bit of a tradition around these parts, I’ll start with the negatives and get that out of the way. And the biggest one, as it has been almost every week since the league year started, is the way that the Patriots surrender an opening drive score in which there are at least two long completions where nobody is within ten yards of a receiver and if the opponent even needs a third down before they find the end zone, it’s an anomaly. These six play, 78-yard drives that put New England in an early hole make the first few minutes of each game frustrating.
6. And it’s so weird too, because once they give up a gimme score, if they surrender more than two touchdowns for the rest of the game it’s a bit of a surprise. It’s like they’re a prizefighter who needs to get clocked in the head to wake up and start swinging back.
7. I want to get on the offensive line for surrendering five sacks to Myles Garrett, as well as harp on the number of sacks Maye has been taking overall…but it’s Myles Garrett. He just isn’t human. Yesterday represented a nice learning experience for Will Campbell, who was far from the only lineman who got wedgied by Garrett. This was the best defense this team will face for the rest of the season; Cleveland was only giving up 25 yards per game. Maye threw for 282 yards and the team added another 177 yards on the ground. According to my calculator because I’m incapable of doing even basic math, that’s 422 yards of total offense. And this wasn’t the Panthers or the Saints here; this was one of the best defenses in the league.
8. Complimented by one of the worst offenses in the league, which certainly makes things easier.
9. The defense didn’t really need to do anything spectacular yesterday; just put a hat on a hat and used superior talent to win the day.
10. I’d feel bad for Garret for wasting his prime years in Cleveland, where he’ll likely never even sniff the postseason. But he signed that contract. He took the money – nothing wrong with that at all.
11. The real plus, though, is that this unit is capable of scoring on offense. A 7-0 deficit last season was as good as a loss. Hell, 3-0 last year and it was more or less game over. But whatever the Patriots are doing, it’s working.
12. And what they’re doing is letting their young QB do his thing. His only mistake on the day, and honestly his only mistake of the last few weeks, was that terrible pick where Schwesinger faked blitz but dropped into coverage and Maye threw it right to him. Maye should have read that. But that’s literally the only knock I can make on this kid over the past calendar month. And he followed that interception up with chunk plays, deep dimes, and efficient play.
13. For the second week in a row, the three leading receivers for the Patriots were…receivers. This week, Mack Hollins led the team with seven for 89. Kayshon Boutte is a home run threat every time he lines up. Stefon Diggs finally got into the end zone. Pop Doulas has re-emerged as a versatile, shifty weapon that can line up anywhere. And seven different Patriots caught a pass. Rookie Henderson led the team in rushing, and probably would have scored had he not fumbled at the goal line. Which I actually kind of liked, as the game was out of hand by that point and it gives some good lowlight film to learn from this week. Plus, it wasn’t like the Browns were going to drive 98 yards for the score. That safety was all but guaranteed.
14. What I think I liked most about what I saw last week was the way that the Patriots adjusted. After a slow start where interior runs and slow-to-develop plays proved ineffective, they started attacking the edges with toss sweeps, misdirections, and playaction crossers. They were able to spring Hunter Henry for the easiest TD he’s likely to score with what looked like a ghost jet sweep to Diggs that froz the defense just enough to release Henry into the flat.
15. Speaking of Henry – the NFL must have sat down for their Tuesday morning meeting last week and offered up a $25 Dunkin gift card to the announcing crew who could mention that yesterday was National Tight End Day the most. I haven’t had a nonexistent holiday stuffed down my throat that hard since I got dragged to what my ex called “Friendsgiving” like 10 years ago. It was just a bunch of couples eating steak and making small talk. I’ll look forward to making my National Long Snapper Day Wish List.
16. I want to make fun of Mack Hollins for dressing up as a chess piece for Halloween…but that’s really what he is. Hollins might be the best blocking receiver this team has had since Deion Branch, and he’s good for at least one long completion per game. So that man can dress up as whatever the hell he wants.
17. The Browns have a bye next week, and after that I would imagine it’s time to see what they have in the most controversial draft pick in recent memory. So if something good gomes out of this latest Browns loss, maybe it’s that they’ll get to see what they have in Sanders.
18. At least I hope so, because if they do make another QB switch, that will be the 13th starter the team has had at quarterback since 2020. It’s good to be a Patriots fan.
19. I want to highlight that Jaylinn Hawkins pick here, as it’s going to get buried in the rest of the season, That was one of the better interceptions you’ll ever see. Hand fighting, sun in his face, difficult ball to track, brought it in with one hand and secured it. May as well call him Jaylinn Ball-Hawkins, eh? Right? Am I right, folks?
20. I can’t even tell you how much I prefer to watch Patriots games when the game is out of hand early and I can just relax. The only real negative to the way this season is unfolding is that the Patriots are likely to get a lot more primetime games next year, which always wreaks havoc on my sleep.
21. I don’t want to end the Fan Notes on a sad note, so I’ll put this one here and close out on more positivity. I know that, as a Patriots fan, I’m legally required to hate the New York Jets. But there are few non-Patriots players in the NFL I loved more than Nick Mangold. Just a pro’s pro all around, and if there was ever a single person who had a negative thing to say about him, they must have kept it to themselves. Mangold was a rare Jets first round pick that actually worked out. 11-year starter, two-time First Team All=Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler, 2006 All-Rookie Team, Jets Ring of Honor Inductee. Tough as nails badassery you just don’t see anymore, and hearing that he passed away over the weekend at just 41 years old , three years younger than me, hit me harder than a Myles Garrett sack. Rex Ryan broke down sobbing on air over the news, and I wasn’t far behind him. Rest well, brother – and everybody go hug your loved ones.
22. The Patriots have won their last five games by a combined score of 153-78. They’re +5 in turnovers and currently sit as the second seed in the AFC. They have an absolutely cake schedule and that Week 14 bye is suddenly looking like the ideal time to rest guys for the upcoming postseason. A lot of folks had this team registering six wins all season, and they’ve hit that milestone before the halfway point. A reeling Falcons team is coming to town before they head down to Tampa for a real test against Baker Mayfield and the Bucs. There’s likely going to be a lot to be thankful for this coming holiday season.
23. My house got egged on Friday night. I guess a few hooligans decided to get a head start on Halloween mischief. The wife was furious, but in a weird way a bit of my faith in humanity was restored. There are still teenagers out there getting together and driving around getting into shenanigans. They weren’t home on their computers or mindlessly scrolling their phones. I drove around egging houses when I was a kid and it’s still going on. It made me smile.
24. But holy jeez is egg a pain in the ass to clean off once it dries, especially when it hits a screen window. If I ever find out who did it, I’m coming after you – to perhaps act as your agent for a tryout with the Browns, as you cxlearly have better throwiung mechanics than anyone who has suited up for that team this century.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween. It’s on a Friday this year, which should make it extra spooky. This year, I’ll be switching it up and dressing as a drunken New England degenerate.