The Patriots handled the Cleveland Browns easily this week. Dispatching them 38-15. The win moves the Pats back to .500 with the lackluster Chicago Bears going into Gillette next week. The Patriots and Browns came in with strong running games and not-so-strong rush defenses. But, like he has done his entire career, Bill Belichick took away what the opponent does best and dared Jacoby Brissett to beat them. He could not.
The big takeaway from the game will not be the defense, although they did dominate from start to finish. The story in this one will be Bailey Zappe. The rookie QB had 309 passing yards and two touchdowns. He had a 118.4 passer rating. He was better than you could have hoped for while, and pay attention here, filling in for Mac Jones.
People in these parts are talking about Zappe taking over for Jones after Jones’ poor start and getting all fired up about it. There is something all Patriots fans need to remember, the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns stink. Going into the game today, Cleveland had the 30th-ranked defensive DVOA according to Football Outsiders. The Lions…32nd. This is the trap that we all fell into last year. The Patriots beat good teams and lose to bad teams.
So before everyone gets ready to anoint Zappe as the next guy, you have to look at the competition. Those that believe the people defending Mac Jones are delusional, they are also outside their minds if they think a Mac Jones-led team would have had different results these past two weeks. It is going to continue next week against the Bears. The defense will feast on the Bears’ offensive line and Justin Fields. This gives the Patriots another chance to rest Mac Jones before a possible test against *looks bewildered* the Jets?!
With the QB discussion behind us, let’s focus on a few things that have been great in these two wins. First, the rookie class. Zappe is getting most of the attention but Jack Jones, Cole Strange, Tyquan Thornton, and Marcus Jones are establishing themselves as studs at their potions. Jack Jones looks like a potential lockdown corner. Marcus Jones has looked good in coverage and has really changed the Patriots’ Special Teams unit. Thornton has only played two games but looks like the game-changer he was in the preseason. Finally, Cole Strange, the oft-mocked first-round pick has just been dominant. He is getting clean sheets week after week. Just an unbelievable class so far for them after a string of misses in the draft.
The next thing we need to look at is Rhamondre Stevenson. There is a chance the Patriots could look to deal Damien Harris, I still like Harris but he cannot stay healthy, because of how good Stevenson has been. Against the Browns, Stevenson rushed for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns. That follows up a 161-yard performance last week against the Lions. The guy is a difference-maker at a position that the Patriots haven’t had since Robert Edwards’ great rookie season.
I love what the defense is doing. The only week that they haven’t played well was Week 3 against Baltimore. The second half against the Packers wasn’t great but that was a weird week having your backup QB get hurt in the first quarter. I am in a tough spot. I want to overreact to the defense but I spent two paragraphs talking about looking at the competition. So, I think the defense is good but I want to see them slow down a good offense first. Things are looking very similar to last year right now. Struggling against good teams and beating up on bad teams.
I don’t want to be Debbie Downer but who the Patriots are beating is a very important thing to look at. They obviously need to beat the bad teams and have done a great job doing that. But we can’t correctly judge the team until they beat a good team with a top quarterback.
(Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
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