Myles Garrett's five sacks did not deter New England quarterback Drake Maye from torching the Browns with three second-half touchdowns. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
FOXBOROUGH, MA
And you thought the Browns’ offense couldn’t get any worse than we’ve seen in seven previous games?
Think again.
Their leading rusher against the New England Patriots was receiver Malachi Corley, who had a 31-yard run on the Browns’ opening drive.
Their wide receivers were targeted only nine times in 35 pass attempts and made a grand total of two catches. Jamari Thrash (two catches, 31 yards), take a bow.
Jerry Jeudy did not receive an official target until the fourth quarter.
Despite fairly good pass protection, Dillon Gabriel suffered his first two interceptions in his four game starts. He also scored New England a safety by getting called for intentionally grounding on a throw from the end zone.
Which is the reason the Browns were a large bowl of clam chowder on the Patriots’ brunch menu, losing, 32-13, despite a franchise-record five sacks and a stripped fumble of Drake Maye by Myles Garrett.
“I really just feel bad again [for Garrett],” said right tackle Jack Conklin. “We can’t do anything offensively. It’s a bummer.”
Garrett was so upset he was taken out at the two-minute warning that he tossed his helmet on the Browns’ sideline. Maye just burned the clock with three kneel-downs.
“Frustrated,” Garrett said. “I want to win. I don’t care how much time is on the clock. They got their starters in. If there’s a chance we can win, I want to be a part of that. I don’t care how dire the situation looks. I’m gonna try to make something happen. I hate that kind of inevitability and not being able to do anything about it. Because I want to win.
“I would throw the whole performance away for a win.”
Garrett’s five sacks doubled his season total to 10 in eight games. He joined Hall of Famers John Randle and Reggie White as the only players to record 10 sacks in eight consecutive seasons.
“We're trying to chip him, and he ‘Gumbys’ around one guy and then speed bursts the other guy,” said Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. “He's just an elite athlete with a tremendous skill set. He's just a dynamic player, and they do a nice job with him. He certainly impacts a lot of football games.”
The only thing more impressive than Garrett’s monstrous performance was Maye overcoming it to break things open with three touchdowns in the second half and compiling his seventh consecutive 100+ passer rating despite an interception by linebacker Carson Schwesinger. Maye was 18 of 24 for 282 yards, three TD, and a passer rating of 135.8. Maye also had 50 yards rushing on seven keepers.
The contrast between the strapping, second-year New England QB and the diminutive rookie Gabriel was larger than the margin on the scoreboard.
Gabriel actually had his finest possession in four games on his first series. He moved the Browns 70 yards in six plays, getting help on Corley’s 31-yard end-around, and completing all three of his passes, including an 18-yarder to wide open Harold Fannin for the touchdown.
Then, he and the offense hit a wall. Or, rather, they were the proverbial bug smashing into a windshield.
Over the next six possessions, the Browns compiled 47 yards of total offense.
The NFL’s lowest-scoring team totaled 213 yards – 4.3 yards per rush and 4.0 per pass attempt.
Gabriel completed four passes for negative yardage. He completed 10 passes for fewer than 10 yards. Fourteen of his 21 completions went for a total of 46 yards. When Gabriel tried to stretch the field with the deficit at 16-7, he was intercepted twice in the span of five plays. He also turned over the ball on downs from the Patriots’ 12-yard line.
All told, Gabriel was 21 of 35 for 156 yards, two TDs (Fannin and David Njoku), two interceptions, and a passer rating of 65.9. The Browns’ running game disappeared again. Quinshon Judkins had 19 yards on nine attempts before leaving with a shoulder injury and Dylan Sampson had 0 yards on three attempts.
“We can’t ask him to drop back 70% of the time. That’s a lot on anybody, let alone a rookie quarterback,” said guard Wyatt Teller.
Gabriel was despondent and edgy in his post-game interview.
“We’ve got to get back to work,” he said. “You’ve got to get better. It starts with me. Yeah, I don’t want to stand up here and say the same ol’ story. We’ve got to get better and there’s multiple categories, starting with me.”
With his team at 2-6 at its bye week, coach Kevin Stefanski said, “We’ll look at everything and figure out a way to get this thing going with more than half our season left. We’re really going to look at everything because the results have to be better, obviously.”
What that means at quarterback is open to speculation once again.
When asked if “look at everything” means looking at a change, Stefanski hedged.
“Yeah, when I say look at everything, when you lose like this, you have to look at every position, everything I’m doing,” he said. “It’s frustrating for where we are as a team. Every position you have to look at. But let me say that with a young quarterback, you understand there’s going to be ups and downs.”
Backup QB Shedeur Sanders was made inactive for the game after going through a very brief workout prior to warmups. Sanders reported to the Browns’ facility on Saturday with a sore back, a club official said.
“I just want to make the point that we just have to be better in every area,” Stefanski said, “including how we’re putting these guys in position to succeed. Are we doing enough with the quarterback position? Do we need to do a better job? And I think I know the answer is yes.”