5 takeaways from the Patriots’ 33-13 win over the Browns
COMMENTARY
New England’s football deity is back in his huddle, and all is right with the world for Patriots fans.
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Here are five takeaways on the return of TB12, and the Patriots’ move to 4-1:
BRADY WAS ON, IMMEDIATELY
With the NFL preventing suspended players from having any football interactions with their teammates or coaches while banned, there was a real possibility that the impact from Brady’s four-game punishment could linger into a fifth or sixth game if he struggled getting back to speed. But Brady proved that concern foolish, and quickly.
Brady was brilliant from the start, orchestrating eight-play touchdown drives on each of New England’s first three series. Through three drives, he had as many touchdown passes as he did incompletions. One of those misses was a drop, and his third incompletion was a throwaway in the red zone. Though the Pats came away empty on their next offensive possession after trying to run the ball in on fourth-and-goal, through four series Brady was 14-of-17 for 248 yards. A week after going 1-for-12, they were also perfect on their first five third-down conversion attempts.
He spread the ball around, hitting seven receivers. Four of them had at least 63 receiving yards. He hit on four completions of at least 36 yards. In the end, he wound up 28-of-40 for 406 yards, three TDs, and boasting a passer rating of 127.7 that should send shudders throughout the NFL (and its commissioner’s office) about what could be to come of this season for the Patriots.
MENTALITY IS DIFFERENT WITH BRADY
This is no surprise, of course. It wasn’t only the production of the Patriots’ offense that was different with Brady behind center. The whole attitude and approach of the attack was also altered, as was especially evident throughout the first half.
After an opening month where run-pass balance was in such order that running back LeGarrette Blount was the AFC’s offensive player of the month for September, New England came out slinging it to the tune of 271 yards in the first half on Sunday, which was 60 yards more than they’d averaged for a full game over the first four contests, and within 13 yards of the 284 they totaled over Jacoby Brissett’s two starts.
It’s hardly surprising that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would be more willing to open things up with a future Hall of Famer in his 17th season than he would with a rookie third-rounder. But even the aggressive way the Pats handled the end of the first half was an encouraging indication of where they think the offense is at. It was noteworthy considering that toward the end of last season — when Julian Edelman was out, and the receiving corps was seriously depleted — there were several times they passed up a chance to try and score before halftime. Even with Brady then, they went ultra-conservative.
Sunday, they used a timeout just before the two-minute warning, came out throwing, and got in position for a makeable Stephen Gostkowski field-goal try. Even after four weeks of forced separation, the Patriots felt good enough about where they’re at to keep the pedal down. And that’s a good sign.
MARTYBALL
When Martellus Bennett went down while blocking near the goal line on the Patriots’ first offensive series, the immediate fear was that their latest attempt at building an offense around two talented tight ends would continue to be thwarted by injury. A freshly taped ankle later, though, those fears were allayed. And Bennett spent the rest of the afternoon demonstrating why the combination of he and Rob Gronkowski could make New England virtually unstoppable.
With five catches and 109 yards, Gronkowski’s workload ramped up again as he continues recovering from a preseason hamstring injury. That increased role appeared to create even more space and opportunity for Bennett. He leaked out to the flat and was left completely unattended on his first touchdown catch. His second was more competitively defended, but Bennett’s third score came when the Pats sent both tight ends vertical and Bennett was uncovered up the sideline. Cleveland clearly placed its priorities elsewhere — though a day like Sunday is a warning to future foes about the wisdom of that strategy.
Not to be lost, either, was the output from wide receiver Chris Hogan in his first game with Brady. Highlighted by a couple of long completions down field, he finished with four catches (on four targets) for a career-high 114 yards before leaving with a potential concussion late in the third quarter.
EXCELLENCE ALONG THE DEFENSIVE LINE
After an underwhelming effort in the loss to Buffalo, the Patriots’ defense responded with a better performance, led by its play along the line. Because an early injury to Cody Kessler forced the Browns to their fourth (and fifth) quarterback it’s difficult to truly evaluate the work of the secondary, though the challenge of facing the Browns was always going to be stopping running back Isaiah Crowell and was entered as the NFL’s No. 1 rushing attack.
Cleveland was averaging 5.7 yards per carry, and nearly 150 yards per game. Then it managed just 27 yards in 22 attempts (1.2 per) against the Patriots, with Crowell gaining 22 yards on 13 hauls. Malcom Brown was excellent in the middle, notching two sacks and making two tackles for losses. Alan Branch added two backfield takedowns, too. Jabaal Sheard put together his best effort of the season against his former team, newcomer Woodrow Hamilton stuffed a run at scrimmage, and Rob Ninkovich returned from his own four-game suspension to contribute, as well.
Add in Dont’a Hightower’s well-timed blitz that created a safety, and the surprising contributions of Elandon Roberts as the team’s third linebacker, and it was a solid job from the entire front seven. It was a different story for Alabama-educated rookies named Jones — as both Cyrus and Jonathan were burnt for touchdowns — but otherwise the defense, and tackling, was back up to par in Week 5.
GOSTKOWSKI A CONCERN?
Gostkowski missed a field goal from well within his range for the third time in four games. When the kicker has already missed as many tries this season as he has in any of the past three seasons, it’s officially a red flag. Sunday’s miss came on a 42-yard boot, joining a 39-yarder against Miami and a 48-yarder against Buffalo.
All three of those misses have drifted to the right, suggesting there’s a mechanical flaw that simply needs to be fixed. However, that Gostkowski is just 7-for-10 after hitting at least 91.7 percent of his field goal tries over each of the past three seasons, and entering Sunday with a career 87 percent success rate, the trend is nevertheless concerning.
Not concerning enough to change anything this season, but with touchbacks deemphasized, a poor season from Gostkowski could possibly force the Pats to evaluate that position after the year.
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