The New England Patriots advanced to 6-2 on the season, after taking down the Cleveland Browns 32-13 on Sunday, pushing the squad to their fifth straight win. It’s been an incredible October for New England, as they finished the month 4-0 with wins over the Bills, Saints, Titans and Browns. Drake Maye continued to build his MVP case in this matchup, totaling 332 yards to go along with three passing touchdowns to a single interception. He now has 17 total touchdowns for the year to only three picks. His 18/24 stat line shows his continued accuracy, as he completed 75% or more of his passes for the fifth game this year.
The game started off slow for New England, as they trailed after the first quarter, 7-3, thanks to a Dillon Gabriel touchdown pass to fellow rookie tight end Harold Fannin. Another tight end, David Njoku, would get in the endzone for the Browns later, but after the ensuing failed two-point conversion, the Browns wouldn’t score again. The half ended without a Patriots touchdown, but they led going into the locker room, 9-7. As I predicted in my preview of the game, it was a sloppy contest that saw the defense prevail in the first half, but the third quarter was a different story. The Patriots’ offense exploded, scoring 21 points. Hunter Henry walked into the endzone, Stefon Diggs caught a screen and ducked in for his first TD as a Patriot and Kayshon Boutte found paydirt on a deep ball yet again. The main concern from this game was the team’s inability to stop Myles Garrett despite chips from the tight end. Will Campbell struggled tremendously, allowing three sacks.
As mentioned, the offense was excellent in the third quarter, but two players showed signs of a breakout. Mack Hollins led the team in both catches and yards: he came into the game with 11 catches on the year and nabbed seven for 89 yards. TreVeyon Henderson showed everyone what he’s capable of, rushing for 75 yards on just 10 carries. A late fumble inside the five-yard-line was disappointing and is something he’ll need to clean up, but it was certainly nice to see him able to utilize his speed to break off some big runs. There’s little doubt he’s a boom or bust player: of his 10 carries, three went for 18+ yards, while three went for two or less. He’s far more efficient than Rhamondre Stevenson, who had 14 carries for 34 yards (2.4 YPC) and averages just 3.4 yards a carry. This was the fourth game he had 2.5 yards per carry or less this season.
Defensively, the team looked sound against a bad Browns offense. They kept their elite run defending streak alive, holding Quinshon Judkins to nine carries for 19 yards, 2.1 per carry. The Patriots have yet to allow a 50-yard rusher this season. Gabriel came into the day without a career interception but left with two: one a throw right into the hands of Robert Spillane that set up Diggs’ first Patriot touchdown, and a second that Jaylinn Hawkins nabbed with one hand, a miraculous play. The defensive line had a very solid day despite the Browns’ poor offense, and Spillane was a force in the run game. Christian Gonzalez looked great both in coverage and as a tackler, and a good pass rush paired with downfield coverage even forced an intentional grounding from Gabriel that led to a safety — the only points the Patriots would score in the fourth quarter. Of Cleveland’s 12 drives, the Patriots had two interceptions, forced a turnover on downs twice, forced four punts, saw a missed field goal, and added a safety. The defense did their job in a big way despite an inferior opponent.
The Patriots will look to improve to 7-2 next week as they’ll take on the Atlanta Falcons, who are coming off a brutal loss against the Miami Dolphins, who notched their second win of the season against the Georgians. Kirk Cousins led the unit last week with Michael Penix out, but both Penix and star wideout Drake London are set to play against the Patriots, two major additions to their lineup. Atlanta has played well in spurts, but as a whole, they’ve been an inconsistent team. They’ve scored more than 22 points only twice, and despite an offense that features four top-eight picks (Penix, Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, London), they haven’t been able to find their stride. They rank 28th in PPG and have scored 20 points across their last two matchups against the 49ers and Dolphins.
Robinson has slowed down since his herculean performance against the Bills, as he’s rushed for just 65 yards across the last two games. The Dolphins held him to just 2.8 a carry. Bottling up opposing run games hasn’t been an issue for the Patriots this year, but that will be a key tenet of their gameplan against the Falcons, even more so than normal. Gonzalez will have the responsibility of covering London, while Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson will likely be tasked with covering Pitts. The Patriots have struggled against tight ends this year: Brock Bowers and Dalton Kincaid went over 100 yards, and four other tight ends have scored touchdowns against them this year. Kyle Dugger will likely return to the gameday roster this week, which should offer some security at the position.
Defensively, Atlanta is solid, 13th in the league in PPG. They struggle against the run, coming in at 22nd in the league and allowing 126.4 yards per game. The Jessie Bates and A.J. Terrell secondary however, is spectacular. Their 149.1 pass yards allowed per game is the fewest by a landslide. 2024’s leader in the category, Tennessee, allowed nearly 180 pass yards a game. Rookies Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman have been stellar pieces to the defensive backfield, while former first found pick Mike Hughes and Dee Alford shore up the position. First round picks Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. Are contributors, but 2023 third-rounder Zach Harrison leads the team in sacks with 3.5. Ex-All-Pro and 2022 Pro Bowler Jamal Agnew is the team’s return man, and former Patriot Parker Romo is Atlanta’s kicker.
Atlanta poses a bigger threat than the Patriots have faced over the past three weeks, but given the team’s wild inconsistency and lack of offensive output, I’d expect New England to push the win streak to six in a row and move to 7-2. Penix and Co. will be a challenge, but I’d expect a hard-fought game to end in the Patriots outscoring their NFC South opponent 27-17.