The Patriots are back to breaking other teams. That’s the surest sign they’re back in business.
Coming off a statement win over the Bengals, the Browns were presented with a golden opportunity Sunday to climb up the AFC North, with Baltimore falling to the Dolphins on “Thursday Night Football” and the Steelers playing the woeful Lions to a tie. Instead, Cleveland fell to 5-5, and got embarrassed in the process.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski’s two-year honeymoon appears to be nearing its conclusion. Myles Garrett ripped Cleveland’s coaching staff following the Patriots’ beatdown.
“We didn’t make adjustments, as in they kept on scoring and we weren’t countering them,” Garrett said. “I mean, we need to do better.”
That’s for certain, considering the Browns were shut out over the final three quarters of the game. For the fourth straight week, the Patriots’ defense overwhelmed the opposing quarterback, and made him look like the rookie. Baker Mayfield went 11-for-21 for 73 yards and an interception before limping off the field in the third quarter. Quarterbacks have completed just 65-of-121 passes for an average of 167.5 yards per game against the Patriots since Oct. 24, to go along with eight interceptions.
Sam Darnold was seeing ghosts, and Mayfield couldn’t see an open receiver. Offensive guard Joel Bitonio acknowledged it was an all-around shellacking.
“I don’t have an explanation besides we got outplayed and outcoached,” he told reporters. “It was embarrassing. We got embarrassed today and they deserve all the credit. They outplayed us.”
One of the more puzzling aspects of the Patriots’ early season swoon was Bill Belichick’s penchant for uncharacteristic blunders, such as running out the clock in the first half against Dallas. Belichick’s failure to outcoach Mike McCarthy was probably his nadir. Since then, he’s been back to his old tricks: making others look silly.
There are a lot of bad coaches in the NFL. As we learned during the first 20 years of the Patriots’ dynasty, even good teams often have overwhelmed coaches pacing the sidelines. Belichick has made a career of exposing them, and causing other teams to rupture.
The 2021 Browns can add themselves to the long list.