Mac Jones had three touchdown passes, and Rhamondre Stevenson and Hunter Henry each scored twice, as the New England rolled to a convincing 45-7 win over the Cleveland Browns at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Cleveland (5-5) picked up there they left off after a blowout win over Cincinnati last week, as they took the opening kickoff and went 79 yards in 14 plays with Baker Mayfield hitting Austin Hooper for a two yard touchdown on fourth and goal. But that was all on the afternoon for the visitors as New England then took over from there. On their first possession, Jones fired a three yard TD to Henry to tie it. An interception by Kyle Dugger on the next Browns possession to start the second quarter was returned 37 yards to the Cleveland five yard line, where Stevenson went in on a five yard run on the first play after the turnover. Jones threw his second score of the opening half with a dart into the endzone of 23 yards to Kendrick Bourne. That drive went 99 yards, the first drive of 99 yards for the Pats since 2011. Nick Folk added a field goal with 20 seconds left to make it 24-7 at the break.
New England (6-4) continued the onslaught in the second half on a Stevenson two yard TD run in the third quarter, and another Jones to Henry three yard score in the fourth. Henry now has seven touchdowns in the last seven games. Mayfield left the game with injury in the third and Case Keenum finished up as the Cleveland quarterback. Backup Brian Hoyer also threw an 11 yard TD to Jakobi Myers late in the game. The Patriots have now won four straight games and four of their last five since a 1-3 start to the season, remaining just 1/2 game behind the Buffalo Bills for first place in the AFC East with still two games to play against one another.
Jones finished 19-23 passing for 198 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Jones becomes the first New England rookie to throw for three touchdowns or more in game since Drew Bledsoe in 1993, and also the first in franchise history as a rookie to throw for three touchdowns and no interceptions in a game. Hoyer was 3-3 for 85 yards and a touchdown in mopup duty. With Damien Harris out, Stevenson seized his opportunity with 20 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns all career highs. Bourne and Myers each had four receptions for 98 and 49 yards respectively, with a touchdown each. The TD for Myers is the first of his career. The Patriots also scored on three drives of 90 or more yards, the first time in the Bill Belichik era. Ja’Whuan Bentley had six tackles, while Kyle Van Noy and Dugger had five each with Dugger adding an interception. The defense also had four sacks. Mayfield went 11-21 passing for 73 yards with one touchdown and one interception before leaving the game. Kennum was 8-12 for 81 yards. D’Ernest Johnson was most of the offense on the day for Cleveland with 99 yards rushing on 19 attempts, and seven catches for 58 yards. Anthony Walker had seven tackles. New England is in Atlanta to battle the Falcons on Thursday night.
