Patriots vs. Browns: Full Report Card Grades for New England
Welcome back to the NFL, Tom Brady!
The New England Patriots played in true Patriot style as the franchise quarterback's return marked the beginning of Tom Brady's Revenge Tour with a dominating 33-13 win.
While they did play the lowly Cleveland Browns, this is a preview of the times to come for the Patriots now that their leader is back in charge of the offense.
After a pathetic 16-0 shutout loss to the Buffalo Bills last week, the Patriots needed this major boost of confidence. The Browns didn't play particularly well and lost both of their remaining quarterbacks, Cody Kessler and Charlie Whitehurst, in this game, though Whitehurst later returned. But New England started firing on all cylinders once again.
It's nice to see that the Patriots are back, and now they are going to lay waste to the rest of the league as the Brady Revenge Tour picks up momentum.
Read on for full grades and analysis of each positional unit from New England's fourth win of the season.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Tom Brady was going to be rusty.
That's what everyone was saying going into this game.
No one can come back from four weeks off without practicing and then look like he is in midseason form. Well, I think most people forgot that this was Tom Brady we are talking about.
Brady finished the game 28-for-40 for a whopping 406 yards and three touchdowns.
If that performance is "rusty" Tom Brady, then I do not even want to know what midseason Tom Brady is capable of.
Brady was lights-out with the deep ball as he looked precise and had fantastic touch dropping the ball in over the top. We even caught a glimpse of the "Clydesdale" as Brady scrambled for a first down and did his best Cam Newton impersonation as he signaled the first down.
Brady is back.
Grade: A+
Running Back
2 of 10
Brady's return didn't work out for one of the NFL's top running backs heading into Week 5: LeGarrette Blount.
Blount didn't look like himself, though a lot of this could have been a product of airing the ball out and the atrocious decision to call plays where Blount runs laterally. Blount is indecisive and slow when it comes to stretch running plays. And he looked awful while attempting to make something out of nothing.
He finished with 18 carries for 37 yards, which equates to an abysmal 2.1 yards per carry. He punched in one touchdown but was denied on a 3rd-and-goal attempt early in the game.
Blount needs to be better.
James White brings up the grade as he looked decent as the receiving back despite a bad drop on an early screen play. He rebounded with a 36-yard scamper off a screen later in the game.
Grade: C+
Wide Receiver
3 of 10
Chris Hogan must really enjoy that Brady is back. Well, all of the receivers are clearly very happy, especially Julian Edelman
Hogan and Brady made it look like they have been playing together for years, even though this was their first regular-season game as teammates. Hogan hauled in a 63-yard bomb dropped in perfectly by Brady. He also set a career high in receiving yards with 114. The sky is the limit for Hogan now that Brady is back.
Edelman also must be happy to have his best buddy back on the field. He saw 10 targets but only corralled five catches and had a lousy drop very early in the game.
Hogan's emergence and the steady production from Edelman raises this grade far beyond what it was last week.
Grade: B+
Tight End
4 of 10
One tight end is a bowling ball and the other is turning into a touchdown monster.
Martellus Bennett recovered from an early right ankle injury, which looked a little gnarly at first. Then Bennett casually went on to score three touchdowns. He had six catches for 67 yards and is constantly looking like one of the league's best tight ends, even though he plays on the same team as the best tight end in the NFL, Rob Gronkowski.
Bennett's play gets an absolute A+, but he needs to work on that celebratory spike. Maybe Gronk can give him some tips.
Brady wasn't the only player to return in Week 5. Sure, Gronk was active last week, but he was finally let loose, catching five passes for 109 yards. Once Gronk gets into space, he barrels through defenses.
This tight end duo is a terror for the league. Look out.
Grade: A+
Offensive Line
5 of 10
The Patriots had to play without Marcus Cannon this week, which sounded like a minor note, but Cannon is actually playing some good football and is vital to protecting the edges of the pocket. Cameron Fleming, the backup tackle who is always up-and-down, played a pretty good game this week against the Browns.
Brady was only sacked one time, so let's give some credit to the offensive line for playing really well.
On the ground, the offensive line was a different story. Blount couldn't find space to work. Part of this was due to the lateral runs, but the blocking needs to be better on those, too.
Browns defensive tackle Danny Shelton had Patriots center David Andrews' number more than a few times as he blew up the line of scrimmage.
There's some room for improvement here.
Grade: B-
Defensive Line
6 of 10
Wow.
The Patriots defensive line woke up against the Browns, who believe it or not had the NFL's top rushing attack going into Week 5.
The Patriots went big with Alan Branch and Malcom Brown playing a high number of snaps, and their presence was felt on the field. Branch was clogging gaps left and right as the run defense limited the Browns to 27 yards rushing and 1.2 yards per carry.
Meanwhile, Brown picked up the slack of the pass-rushing off the edge. The edge rush was non-existent, but the interior rush was brought to life as Brown landed two sacks on the Browns.
Grade: A-
Linebacker
7 of 10
Who's this guy Elandon Roberts?
Well, if you aren't a Patriots junkie, Roberts is a 2016 sixth-round draft pick who played college football at the University of Houston. Roberts was a special teams player and strictly an afterthought on the defensive side of the football. But that all changed today.
Roberts went off against the Browns. He made great play after great play. Roberts drew a holding penalty, had a tackle for a loss and was seemingly all over the field as he finished with seven total tackles.
Let's not forget about Dont'a Hightower, who started to look like himself again after his knee clearly held him back against the Bills. Hightower landed the sack on Kessler that turned into a safety for the Patriots defense.
The linebackers were also pretty key in containing the Browns rushing attack as they filled in the gaps at the line of scrimmage.
Grade: A-
Secondary
8 of 10
The Patriots made the somewhat expected decision to sit Justin Coleman as a healthy scratch for this game, but that meant Cyrus Jones needed to pick up the slack in the secondary. Unfortunately, he didn't.
Cyrus Jones was torched by Browns WR Andrew Hawkins right at the point of attack during Hawkins' route. Jones didn't know how to pick up his man, expected help over the top and fell behind, which made it an easy throw for Kessler to make. To make matters worse, he let his emotions get the best of him as he apparently threw punches during an altercation over a low block and was ejected from the game. That sort of unsportsmanlike conduct is going to land him in Bill Belichick's doghouse.
The safeties looked stellar despite some of the issues going on with the cornerbacks. Devin McCourty made an exceptional tackle in the backfield on an outside run play that halted a Browns drive. Meanwhile, Patrick Chung picked off a Charlie "Clipboard Jesus" Whitehurst throw by being in the right place at the right time.
Grade: B
Special Teams
9 of 10
It's time to be concerned about Stephen Gostkowski.
Gostkowski, who is normally Mr. Automatic when it comes to kicking field goals, clearly has some issues to work out. His kicks are slicing right and he might need to start making the adjustment to line up a bit farther to the left to compensate for his lack of accuracy. Gostkowski is only 6-for-9 on field goals this year and has missed an attempt in three of his last four games. That's not good and definitely means it's time to sound the alarms.
In a funny moment, the Browns announced punter Ryan Allen as "Ray" Allen. I didn't realize Ray wanted to make a name for himself in the NFL after a Hall of Fame career in the NBA.
The kick coverage was great for the whole game, which makes up for the kicking game struggles.
Grade: B-
Coaching
10 of 10
Belichick more than anyone must be happy to have Brady back. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels should be, too, as he was willing to call a slew of pass plays to get his quarterback in rhythm after the four-game suspension. Well, Brady didn't need the help.
McDaniels was excellent at calling pass plays, but on the ground it was a different story. McDaniels keeps calling stretch run plays for Blount where he moves laterally along the offensive line; this play never works. Never.
Blount cannot run laterally because he isn't fast and is horribly indecisive. Let Blount play to his strengths as a north-south, physical runner.
Matt Patricia did an outstanding job with drawing up a game plan to stifle the Browns run game.
Grade: B
.jpg?w=600 "Fans React to Simpson Pick 😱")
.jpg?w=600 "Top WR Trade Landing Spots After Rd. 1 📍")
.jpg?w=600 "Cards Had Wrong Love Number 😅")
.jpg?w=600 "Full Eagles-Cowboys Trade 🤝")
