Patriots Outsmart, Out Effort, Out Class Browns, 38-15

The Cleveland Browns were thoroughly defeated by the New England Patriots in every facet of the game in no small part because of their inability to get out of their own way.

The Cleveland Browns came in to the week with one of the top rated offenses in the league, both in yardage and points scored, but were rendered important by the New England Patriots, The Browns wouldn't find the end zone until the fourth quarter of the game courtesy of a miraculous touchdown reception by Amari Cooper.

Like most teams, the Patriots came with a game plan that focused on stopping Nick Chubb and the running game and forcing journeyman quarterback Jacoby Brissett to win the game with his arm. The Patriots defense was more successful than any team this season in limiting Chubb, who rushed for 56 yards on 12 carries, the longest of which went for 18 yards. The Browns only had 70 yards on the ground overall.

The Patriots won the battle up front throughout the game. It didn't help that Browns right guard Wyatt Teller would leave the game with a calf injury, but even when he was in the game, the Browns found little success on the line of scrimmage.

Meanwhile, Brissett had the worst game of his Browns tenure, starting with a tone setting mistake on the first drive of the game. On a play-action rollout to his right, Brissett wasn't able to get his body around fast enough to find his tight end Pharaoh Browns wide open on a corner route behind the defense. Rather than accepting that he was late, he forced a bad throw that was intercepted by Patriots defensive back Jalen Mills.

Brissett struggled not only with his decision making, but his field vision, and pocket awareness. Even when Brissett was right, such as on a 33-yard completion to tight end David Njoku, a better throw likely results in a touchdown. The Browns would settle for a Cade York field goal, one of three on the day. That inability to produce touchdowns with scoring opportunities has been an issue for the Browns the past three games.

The offense was consistently defeated by the Patriots defense on first down, which put the Browns offense off schedule and limited what they could call. Often finding themselves in 3rd-and-long, the Browns struggled all day, converting just four of 15 attempts.

The defense was the relative bright spot in the first half of the game, only giving up 10 points through the first two quarters. Even as they made stops, it often came with some clunky mistakes that would be exploited to much greater effect in the second half.

Zappe was the better of the two quarterbacks, able to throw for 309 yards, completing 24 of 34 attempts. It never felt like Zappe was in control, but defensive blunders by the Browns allowed the rookie to look lead his team to the victory in style.

Davante Parker made a pair of fantastic catches in traffic with defenders draped over him, but the rest of the Patriots receiving threats met with far less resistance. Tight end Jonnu Smith had a 53-yard reception when Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah blew his coverage, then proceeded to collide with another defender, allowing Smith to get a big run after the catch. Hunter Henry caught an uncontested touchdown as safety Grant Delpit had fallen down on the play.

Despite the litany of issues, the Browns still had an opportunity to contend in this game. The touchdown the Browns were able to score reduced the deficit to 24-15. They failed on a 2-point conversion that would've made it a seven-point deficit, but they appeared to recover the onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. 

Cade York's kick down the left sideline appeared to be recovered by Browns safety Ronnie Harrison and was ruled accordingly on the field. Upon review, the officials ruled Harrison had not secured the ball and corner A.J. Green then touched the ball with his legs laying on the sideline. The officials overturned the recovery and then assessed a penalty on Green illegal touching.

Still not done, the Browns defense was able to stop the Patriots offense. Chester Rogers muffed the resulting punt, allowing it to bounce off his chest and through his arms to be recovered by the Patriots gunner, Brendan Schooler.

The Browns would surrender another touchdown off of that mistake and after a fumble by Brissett, the rout was on.

Myles Garrett was able to secure the Browns team record for sacks in style, forcing a fumble on Patriots rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe. Garrett was able to speed around the edge on the right side and graze the ball just before Zappe was able to throw it, catapulting a fumble down the field which was recovered by safety John Johnson III. That sack moved Garrett passed Clay Matthews in the team record book for official sacks with 62.5. He would add another one later in the game.

Coming into the game, the Browns talked about how the Patriots aren't a team that beat themselves. Despite 12 penalties for 93 yards, that proved to be true. The Browns, meanwhile, have developed a bad habit of unforced errors, often beating themselves before the opponent has a chance, which is a major reason the team finds itself a disappointing 2-4.