The New England Patriots stayed in the win column on Sunday, celebrating a fifth straight W to improve to 6-2 on the year.
Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live viewing.
Winners
QB Drake Maye:
A weekly staple in the winners column, Maye continued his hot streak in Sunday’s win. Despite a slow start against Myles Garrett and the Browns defense in the first-half — where Maye threw his first interception since Week 3 — the sophomore gunslinger rebounded with a perfect second half going 8-for-8 for 114 yards and three touchdowns while generating +0.91 EPA per play.
The final touchdown was his best of the day. Following a 28-yard scramble as the seas parted in front of him (bringing his total to seven carries for 50 yards), Maye threw a beautiful deep ball to Kayshon Boutte down the left sideline for a 39-yard score. The MVP run continues.
LB Robert Spillane: New England’s top linebacker made his presence felt with a game-high 14 total tackles on Sunday as he helped limit the Browns’ offense to just one score before garbage time. Spillane also got in the stat sheet with a second-half interception as he fell off the running back and undercut David Njoku as Dillon Gabriel’s pass then went right to the linebacker. A 33-yard return set the Patriots up in a goal-to-go situation in which they found the end zone just three plays later.
CBs Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones: Cleveland receivers ended the day with just two total receptions in a game Dillon Gabriel attempted 35 passes. Much of that had to do with Gonzalez and Jones, who each recorded a pair of pass breakups to go with a tackle for loss. Gonzalez saw plenty of time against Jerry Jeudy, who finished the day with a 0-0-0 line.
Stefon Diggs and the WRs: Diggs finished the day with just three catches for 14 yards, but gets the nod here for the one-yard touchdown that marked his first score as a Patriot. Diggs impact on the wide receiver group (and team as a whole) has been special to watch and was seen by the team celebration after his touchdown.
The contributions from the whole room continued, with Boutte hauling in another long touchdown, Pop Douglas recording an explosive downfield, and Mack Hollins leading the team with seven catches for 89 yards. It’s been a complete 180 in the Patriots wide receiver room.
K Andy Borregales: New England’s rookie kicker helped the Patriots take a 9-7 lead into halftime as he was a perfect 3-for-3 with makes from 36, 32, and 42. With some early season woes in the rearview mirror, Borregales is now 12-for-13 on field goal attempts and 21-for-23 on extra points attempts — not missing one of either since Week 2.
Losers
OT Will Campbell: We’ll preface this by saying Sunday’s matchup against future first-ballot Hall of Famer Myles Garrett could be the toughest matchup Campbell faces in his entire career. But, the rookie expectedly had some issues as Garrett posted a 5.0-sack performance against New England. Garrett recorded five of his eight pressures and three of his sacks (one strip sack) in 13 matchups against Campbell. The rookie held up well against other rushers as he did not allow a pressure on his 20 other pass blocking snaps.
Slow starts: A change to the Patriots practice routine this week saw defensive assistant Ben McAdoo game plan a script for the scout team offense to try and get New England’s defense ready to go out of the gate. But, the Browns offense ultimately marched down the field on their opening drive for a touchdown which marked the sixth time in eight games the Patriots have allowed points on their opening drive. The unit completely locked things down following that drive, but you continue to wonder if the slow starts will come back to bite them against a higher level of competition.
Honorable mentions
- The Patriots made it an emphasis to get TreVeyon Henderson out in space more which resulted in the back totaling a career-high 75 rushing yards (68 on outside runs) on 10 carries. Unfortunately, the rookie lost a fumble near the goal line late int he fourth quarter.
- Hunter Henry celebrated National Tight Ends Day with a touchdown while Austin Hooper also had a 44-yard explosive up the seam.
- Incredible one handed interception by Jaylinn Hawkins.
- Outside of Borregales, some bad in the special teams department. Bryce Baringer shanked a 15-yard punt while New England was flagged three times in the kicking game.
- Josh McDaniels. Another awesome game from the Patriots OC, especially coming out of the half: “Just classic Coach McDaniels drive,” said Maye.
- Notable that Keion White was a healthy inactive with the trade deadline looming. Christian Barmore also did not play the first quarter for what Vrabel seemed to indicate as disciplinary reasons.
