The New England Patriots celebrated a home win against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday to improve to 6-2 on the year. Their matchup with the top-ranked defense in football wasn’t always pretty, but in the end
the Patriots did enough to beat yet another opponent by multiple scores, 32-13.
Let’s get into some lessons learned from the team’s fifth straight victory.
Drake Maye and Josh McDaniels keep finding a way
Drake Maye might have played his worst 30 minutes of the season in the first half on Sunday. The Patriots’ second-year quarterback threw a terrible interception, was erratic with the ball, and had trouble getting the ball out early, taking multiple coverage sacks.
And then, the flip switched. Maye drove his team to a go-ahead field goal at the end of the first half, and then played like the Drake Maye we’ve seen this season from the third period on. He led three straight touchdown drives without throwing an incompletion to open the second half, eventually finishing 18-for-24 for 282 yards with three touchdowns and an interceptions as well as 53 rushing yards on just four carries.
“Just bouncing back from adversity,” Maye said after the game. “This is that league. One of the best players on the edge, maybe one of the best players in the league on the edge. So, just battling back and continuing to run it in play action and boot and just trying to be unpredictable on offense. I think Coach called a great game. Good to handle adversity and come out of halftime, and to score three touchdowns in the third quarter was big.”
Part of the Patriots’ slow start was that they were simply running their regular offense in the first half. When you’re playing against the best defense in the NFL, you need to mix things up, and, as Maye mentioned, try to keep them off balance. To his credit, Josh McDaniels came out in the second half and reached down into his bag to get the Patriots offense going.
His calls included a double pass from Rhamondre Stevenson to Maye to Mack Hollins for a big gain; he called more outside runs to get TreVeyon Henderson going; and he had Maye moving outside the pocket more often to deal with the pressure provided by standout edge Myles Garrett. That is how you kickstart an offense, and how you show the league that you can do a lot of different things in a lot of different ways.
Part of the reason that Drake Maye and the offense as a whole have been so good is because of McDaniels, and he proved again on Sunday that he’s one of the best offensive coordinators in the league.
More lessons learned from Patriots vs. Browns
Stefon Diggs still knows how to find the end zone: The last time Stefon Diggs scored a touchdown he was at Gillette Stadium as a member of the Houston Texans. It’s been over a year, but he finally got in again on a goal line pass from Drake Maye in the third quarter against Cleveland. The team, who knew what it meant for him, immediately mobbed him. It was a great scene for the player who has become an emotional leader for this young Patriots team. It is obvious how much they respect him, and how much he has embraced his leadership role.
The defense keeps overcoming early setbacks: The Patriots defense has started slowly in every game this year, and Sunday was no different. The Browns drove right down the field and Dillon Gabriel threw a touchdown to a wide open Harold Fannin Jr. for a touchdown to cap off the series. After that first 70-yard march, the Browns had seven straight drives for 58 total yards and two turnovers. By then, the Patriots were up 30-7, and the game was over. Cleveland ended up finding some success in garbage time, but it didn’t matter. If they play better offenses, there might be problems with them getting gashed early, but it hasn’t really burned them in these last five games. If the defense can continue to play as well as they do after the first drive is out of the way, the Patriots can go make some real noise in January.
Jaylinn Hawkins should be in the catch of the year conversation: The third quarter interception by Patriots starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins was nothing short of incredible, and one of the best interceptions you will see all year. It was a twisting, diving pick with one hand that should be making highlight reels and is deserving of taking some of the spotlight away from New England’s MVP-caliber quarterback.
Marcus Jones continues to be awesome: This should just be a weekly thing, and I don’t know if it can even count as a lesson learned at this point. But still, Marcus Jones continues to be one of the best players on the Patriots’ defense and a premier slot cornerback in the entire NFL. He had a pass breakup, tackle for loss and five total tackles on the day. He was targeted a bunch, but just would not allow the Browns to get anything more than a few yards. The Patriots should try to extend him before the season ends, because Jones is a guy that they are going to want to keep around for multiple reasons: not only is his play on the field impressive as both a cornerback and punt returner, but the fact that he is a captain proves that his leadership has taken a step forward as well. He is truly one of the most important players on the team right now.
Andy Borregales is turning into Mr. Reliable: When the season started, and Andy Borregales missed a field goal in his first game, and then two extra points in Miami in his second. Since then, however, the rookie has been money. I truly believe Mike Vrabel giving him a game ball in the locker room after that Dolphins game was a season-changing moment; at least for Borregales it has been. We don’t know how he is going to kick when the weather turns cold and the ball gets a lot harder, but there’s no reason to bet against him right now.
TreVeyon Henderson shows promise despite his late fumble: Patriots fans (and fantasy managers worldwide) have been screaming for the Patriots to use TreVeyon Henderson more on offense, and they finally did that. The second-round draft pick had 75 yards on 10 rushes and was the team’s leading rusher in the game. He showed the speed and ability to hit the hole quick enough to just run by guys. He ended the game with a fumble at the goal line in the fourth quarter and we’ll have to see if it impacts his playing time, but he showed some flashes on Sunday. Here’s hoping that the Patriots give him some more chances as the year goes on.
Myles Garrett is ridiculous: Myles Garrett is one of the best edge rushers, and probably defenders, in the entire league, and that was evident on Sunday. The Browns’ stalwart had five sacks on Sunday, which is a franchise record, and made rookie Will Campbell’s life difficult all day long. Campbell wasn’t the only one, but he had three sacks on 13 reps versus the rookie and showed why he’s one of the most feared defenders in the league. For comparison, Campbell had 20 pass blocking reps against anyone other than Garrett, and didn’t give up a single pressure in those instances. I would feel bad for Garrett given the quality player he is, but he chose to stay in Cleveland even though they haven’t been good in a very long time. I get that he wanted to be loyal, and that’s admirable, but he deserves better than a terrible team that is irrelevant year after year.
Dillon Gabriel is horrible: The Browns traded away Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett already this year, and have settled on third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel as their starting quarterback. Let’s see how long that experiment lasts. Gabriel ended up 21-for-35 with 156 yards passing, with two touchdowns and interceptions each. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though. His interception to Robert Spillane was wild, for example: he had David Njoku open with a step, and just threw it right to the linebacker instead. Then, the intentional grounding in the end zone was just not an NFL-caliber play and one of the worst you will ever see a starting QB make. The Browns want to go with a young guy, but based on Sunday it might be difficult for them to justify sticking with Gabriel for much longer if he’s going to play like this — especially with a big-name quarterback sitting right behind him on the depth chart.
A prime opportunity to improve to 7-2 awaits: Coming into town next week is one of the most hot-and-cold teams in the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons. They got blown out by the lowly Dolphins on Sunday, but also beat the Bills two weeks prior. Their starting QB, Michael Penix Jr, was out this weekend, so it remains to be seen if he will be back next week, but, either way, the Patriots cannot afford a letdown. The Falcons might not be a powerhouse, but they have proven that they can play with the elite teams in the NFL if they’re giving themselves a chance.
