“I’m proud of the totality of the team, and I know there’s so much more to improve,” coach Mike Vrabel said.
Sunday’s game unfolded just like previous wins over the punchless Titans, Saints, and Panthers. The Browns, as with those other teams, scored on their opening drive, but their 30th-ranked scoring offense, led by rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, barely made it into Patriots’ territory the rest of the afternoon.
The Browns’ No. 1-ranked defense did give Drake Maye and his team fits for the first half and kept the game close at halftime. But the Patriots broke through with three touchdowns in the third quarter, and Gabriel handed them the game with two interceptions and an inability to push the ball down the field.
It’s not the Patriots’ fault they keep playing the NFL’s worst offenses and quarterbacks — Cam Ward, Spencer Rattler, Bryce Young, and Gabriel. To their credit, they aren’t just squeaking past these teams, they’re dominating them.
But the Patriots aren’t being tested, either. They haven’t paid a price for falling in an early hole each week, or by not being able to run the ball well, or for special teams errors like Sunday’s — three penalties, a shanked punt, and allowing an onside kick recovery.
To quote a former coach, it is what it is. The Patriots aren’t flawless, but they’re racking up the wins against a lot of bad opponents.
⋅ Those fan chants of “MVP! MVP!” for Maye late in the third quarter were well deserved. He had a tough first half dealing with the pass rush, taking four sacks and throwing a pick. He found his rhythm in the third quarter, though, and once again finished with fantastic numbers — 18-of-24 passing for 282 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception for a 135.8 rating, plus 50 rushing yards.
Once again, Maye was fantastic pushing the ball downfield. He had six completions of more than 20 yards, including a 44-yarder to DeMario Douglas, 31-yarder to Austin Hooper, and a gorgeous 39-yard touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte. Maye also hit a big pass to Boutte right before halftime to get the Patriots back in field-goal range.
Maye completed 75 percent of his passes for 11.8 yards per attempt. Usually, quarterbacks do one or the other — complete a high number of passes, or push the ball downfield. Only a handful can do both, and few if any are playing better than Maye is.
⋅ The first half was a 9-7 slog in which the Patriots struggled to handle a ferocious defensive front, but Josh McDaniels got the ball moving with an impressive string of deception plays on the opening drive of the third quarter: A crack toss to TreVeyon Henderson for 27 yards, followed by a double-pass to Mack Hollins for 19, an option run for Rhamondre Stevenson for 4, an end-around to Douglas for 8, and a play-action rollout to Hunter Henry, who was wide open for a 7-yard touchdown.
“His demeanor at halftime, he knew we were good,” Maye said of McDaniels. “We had this classic coach McDaniels drive, just dialing it up, getting guys open, and really making things easy for me.”
The Patriots gained 422 yards and averaged 6.5 per play against an excellent defense. McDaniels also finally got Henderson unleashed, with 10 carries for 75 yards, including runs of 27 and 18 — though his fumble near the goal line late in the fourth quarter will give the Patriots pause about giving him more carries down there.
⋅ The only real negative was the performance of the offensive line, which affected the red zone success. The Patriots twice settled for short field goals in the first half and struggled to run the ball for much of the day, with Rhamondre Stevenson totaling only 34 yards on 14 rushes (2.4 average). They struggled to hold the line of scrimmage to the point that Maye still threw a play-action pass with 6 minutes left in the game. Maye also took six sacks for minus-37 yards.
The Browns have a dominant line and entered the game with the NFL’s best run defense. There’s no shame in losing that battle, but the Patriots definitely got pushed around.
⋅ They also had no answer for Myles Garrett, who was a one-man wrecking crew. He set a Browns record with five sacks, all in big spots. The first two each came on a third-down near the goal line to force the Patriots into a field goal. The third came late in the first half, Garrett knocking the ball out and temporarily moving the Patriots out of field goal range. Garrett also chased Maye down from behind near the goal line in the third quarter, pulling him down by the jersey in a scary looking moment. (Maye was OK.)
It was a baptism by fire for rookie left tackle Will Campbell, but he wasn’t alone in struggling to contain Garrett. Campbell had double-team help on each of Garrett’s first three sacks, but Garrett got through to the quarterback, anyway. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a four-time All Pro and former Defensive Player of the Year.
⋅ Mike Vrabel just can’t figure out how to get his defense to start faster. This week, he asked coach Ben McAdoo to create a script for the scout team to help the defense have a faster start.
That didn’t work, as the Browns marched 70 yards for a touchdown, with Harold Fannin left wide open for receptions of 19 and 18 yards. Of course, after gaining 70 yards on the first drive, the Browns gained just 143 on their final 11.
“When their gimmick plays ran out, I thought we played pretty good defense,” Vrabel said. “I think [the defense] plays and competes for 60 minutes. This isn’t a one- or two-possession game — there are at least 10-12 possessions in a football game.”
The Patriots have allowed an opening-drive touchdown in 4 of 8 games, and field goals in two others. They have been fantastic in the second and third quarters, with a plus-68 point differential, but eventually they will play Baker Mayfield, Joe Flacco, and Josh Allen (again). They probably can’t afford to fall into a big hole in the first quarter against them.
⋅ Another dominant performance from the defense, which held running back Quinshon Judkins to just 19 rushing yards on nine attempts, and limited Gabriel to 156 yards with two interceptions. Robert Spillane had his second interception of the season, and cornerback Marcus Jones once again had an excellent day, breaking up two passes on third down and making a tackle for loss.
Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.
