Instant Observations Following Patriots' 27-13 Win over Browns in Week 8
Here are some instant observations made during the New England Patriots' 27-13 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 8.
Turnovers and mistakes for Browns gave Patriots a 17-point start
Between two Nick Chubb fumbles and a sloppy giveaway by Baker Mayfield, the Patriots' defense has been fun to watch today. They scored off one of the Chubb fumbles and spoiled a huge run on the other.
The Browns also committed several penalties and lost a few challenges, which would hurt them a bunch.
These miscues would give the Patriots a 17 point advantage to start the game and would put the Browns in a hole to which they couldn't recover from.
Nick Chubb has a big start
Despite the two early fumbles, Chubb ran all over the Patriots' defense. It seemed like he would just consistently crank out six, seven, eight yard gains. He finished the day with 20 rushes for 131 yards.
His production would slow down later in the game, due to two reasons: 1) The Patriots' defense focused far more on him in that third quarter 2) the Browns would abandon the run, being down the whole game, needing to air it out to catch up.
Slater and Bethel are an elite tandem
Slater and Bethel forced a muffed punt in their first game together. The muff was recovered by the Browns, however, you can tell that these two pro bowl special teams players are just unfair on punt and kick coverage.
Bethel will certainly make up for the loss of Brandon King earlier this season and we have to question if Bailey, Slater, and Bethel are the best punting crew in the NFL.
John Simon has another strong game; shows why it was okay to trade Bennett
While he did not pop up in the stat sheet that much, John Simon had another strong game. He again took the place of the now Cowboy Michael Bennett and might provide more value at his $1.6 million cap hit, compared to Bennett's former $7 million and change cap hit.
He provided consistent pressure against Mayfield and was in the backfield a lot in this rainy affair. Both Winovich and Simon have exceeded expectations this season and have both been a big part of this pass rush.
Patriots need another weapon on offense; even with Harry coming back
After today and the last few weeks, it is pretty apparent the Patriots need another offensive weapon. The Patriots have been looking to acquire another weapon, even after the Mohammad Sanu trade, according to Jason La Canfora.
The offense has looked sluggish and stagnant at times this season and does not seem to be providing enough help for Tom Brady. N'Keal Harry's NFL debut is expected to help this team but putting hefty expectations and a heavy load on a rookie receiver, coming off an injury, is not exactly the best decision for the football team.
Whether it be a tight end or receiver, the Patriots clearly need another guy to move the chains and be a dependable target to take some pressure off of Brady.
