This circus catch by New England's DeVante Parker helped give the Patriots a 3-0 lead early in the game. (USA Today)
Bill Belichick wins again in Cleveland to drop Browns to 2-4
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Instant takeaways from Browns 38-15 loss to New England Patriots …
1. Red October: This is becoming a month to forget for the Browns. They dropped their third in a row to fall to 2-4. Patriots coach Bill Belichick beat them, 38-15, with a rookie quarterback for the second year in a row. This time it was fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe and not franchise QB hopeful Mac Jones, who didn’t play because of a high ankle sprain. Zappe passed for two touchdowns and 309 yards while the Browns were preoccupied with stopping running back Rhamondre Stevenson. They did hold him under 100 yards, but Stevenson still managed a 31-yard TD run early and a 6-yard TD late. Belichick masterminded a defense that bedeviled Jacoby Brissett, his one-time No. 3 quarterback. Brissett had his worst game of the year. Brissett completed 21 of 44 for 266 yards. He was intercepted twice, lost one fumble and was sacked four times. Belichick’s ninth win in 11 meetings against the Browns raised his career win total to 324, which matches George Halas for second on the NFL all-time list.
2. Pffffft: The Browns made it interesting, and then comical. The Browns closed a 24-9 deficit to 24-15 on an acrobatic TD catch by Amari Cooper with 6:17 remaining. The Browns then recovered an onside kick at the Patriots’ 48. But after replay review, it was nullified because A.J. Green touched the ball with his feet out of bounds while grappling with Ronnie Harrison for the loose ball. The Browns did force a punt, but Chester Rogers muffed it and New England scored a touchdown on a 19-yard end-around run by receiver Tyquan Thornton. On the next possession, Brissett lost the ball when trying to throw and defensive lineman Carl Davis rumbled to the Browns’ 8. Stevenson then scored his second touchdown.
3. Boo birds: Brissett’s second interception of the game brought out the boo birds. Brissett was hit as he threw on a clean blitz by linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, and the ball was intercepted by Jalen Mills. The volume of boos turned up considerably three plays later when Zappe connected with tight end Hunter Henry for a 31-yard touchdown. Henry came wide open when safety Grant Delpit slipped in coverage when Henry released from the line of scrimmage.
4. Tackling update: On the first series of the second half, Zappe zipped an intermediate pass to tight end Jonnu Smith. The 248-pound Smith was hit immediately by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as Delpit aimed his shoulder into Smith. You can figure out how that went. The Browns’ defenders were knocked down like bowling pins and Smith jaunted for a 53-yard gain. Zappe later beat Delpit on a 13-yard pass to Hunter Henry and hit Tyquan Thornton crossing in the end zone ahead of Greedy Williams for the touchdown. The Patriots lead, 17-6.
5. Run defense update: The Browns’ remedial course on tackling and run recognition looked to be paying dividends in the first half. For 26 ½ minutes, the Browns held Pats premier back Rhamondre Stevenson to 16 yards on eight attempts. On his ninth run from scrimmage, Stevenson blasted through a hole in the middle of his offensive line, cut to the left outside and outraced M.J. Emerson and John Johnson to the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown. The Browns blitzed Owusu-Koramoah and Delpit on the play.
6. Lesson learned: After failing on a fourth-and-1 earlier in the half, Stefanski eschewed more criticism by choosing the field goal on fourth-and-2 at the New England 30 late in the half. Cade York made the 48-yarder from the right hash into the problematic closed end zone. The Patriots led at halftime, 10-6. In the half, Brissett was outpassed by Zappe, 141 yards to 91. Amari Cooper had one catch in five targets. York made another field goal of 51 yards into the closed end in the fourth quarter.
7. Run the ball: Of course the Browns came out passing the ball because they have the league’s best running game. On the second play of the game, No. 3 tight end Pharaoh Brown peeled off the right edge of the line and was open. But Brissett hesitated and his late throw was intercepted by safety Kyle Dugger at the Browns’ 36.
8. Take the points, Part 1: Zappe took the Patriots down to the Browns 11, getting help from a fabulous catch by Davonte Parker over M.J. Emerson for 29 yards. Then, Greg Newsome was called for interference on a pass in the end zone for Jakobi Meyers. From the 1, the Browns’ defense stuffed Stevenson twice, and Zappe’s third down pass for tight end Hunter Henry was disallowed because he stepped out of the end zone before making the catch. Belichick didn’t hesitate in kicking a 19-yard field goal.
9. Take the points, Part 2: A different philosophy was espoused by the Browns at the beginning of the second quarter. The Browns had fourth-and-1 at the Patriots 18. The Browns rushed to the line of scrimmage and tried their bread-and-butter QB sneak. The Patriots stuffed it. After a bad spot for the Browns, the measurement showed Brissett was two feet short. So eschewing the field goal cost the Browns the lead. They had tied the game, 3-3, on York’s 39-yard field goal in the first quarter.
10. Record breaker: Myles Garrett was credited with a strip sack of Zappe late in the first quarter on a play that survived a replay review. The sack made Garrett the unofficial franchise sack leader with 62.5 in his career. Clay Matthews held the unofficial official record of 62. But Matthews had 13 sacks in 1978-81 before the NFL recognized the sack as an official statistic. Still, Garrett should shatter Matthews’ career total of 75 next year.
11. Very bad: The team that doesn’t beat itself had to infuriate its coach in the first half by committing eight penalties. The Patriots had been first in the league with only 26 penalties through the first five games. Also, Nick Folk missed a 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. It was Folk’s first miss from under 50 yards after making 64 in a row.
12. Ouch: The Browns lost guard Wyatt Teller to a calf injury in the second quarter. He was replaced by Hjalte Froholdt.
13. Pre-game notes: No surprises on the Browns’ inactive list. Jadeveon Clowney (ankle, knee, elbow) and Denzel Ward (concussion) previously were declared out for the game. The Browns did activate Greedy Williams, but rookie M.J. Emerson was chosen to start in Ward’s place. The Browns chose again to elevate returner Chester Rogers, which meant another deactivation for Demetric Felton. (By the way, Rogers has now reached the limit of three elevations from the practice squad. The Browns will have to sign him to the 53 next week if they keep him around.) Also, linebacker Dakota Allen was elevated from the practice squad because Deion Jones didn’t pass his crash course in three practices since being acquired from Atlanta. The Patriots, as expected, did not activate quarterback Mac Jones (high ankle). They also deactivated running back Damien Harris (hamstring).
