September 3, 2020 -- #CLEvNE
Gillette Stadium -- Foxborough, MA
NBC -- 8:20 PM E.T.
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CLE - 0 / 14 / 0 / 0 // 14
NE - 2 / 10 / 7 / 17 // 36
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A less than stellar Super Bowl performance, albeit a victory. A sloppy, up-and-down preseason. Many wondered if the end of Tom Brady, and by extension the New England Patriots, were near.
A quarter into the game, those naysayers were on their way to being right as New England's top two running backs -- Sony Michel and James White -- left the game with injuries and the Patriots offense was shutout.
New faces, same Brady, same result.
Brady threw for 437 yards and two touchdowns in what was a near perfect night as New England revealed it's seventh banner before beating the Cleveland Browns 36-14 on Thursday night, keeping the young pups at bay once more.
Cleveland's offense had a burst, scoring two long touchdowns in the middle of the second quarter as Nick Chubb ripped off a 49-yard run and Odell Bekcham had a 96 yard touchdown catch and run. Beckham caught just one more pass after that and Chubb was held to just 12 yards on his other five carries as New England's defense settled down, shutting them for the rest of the night.
New England's new faces got to work as D'Eriq King, a former quarterback for the University of Houston, seems to be on his way to be next the Patriot to follow the Patriot Way. The quarterback ran for 46 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 45 yards. No Josh Gordon either? N'Keal Harry, ladies and gentlemen. 10 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown A little Grant Calcaterra there (3 catches, 36 yards), a little Henry Ruggs here (2 catches, 36 yards), a dash of Jeff Thomas (2 catches, 47 yards) and as always, the reliable Julian Edelman with 7 catches for 91 yards and a score.
Rookie Isaiah Simmons led the team with seven tackles and a pick six off Baker Mayfield along with a sack.
Stephen Gostkowski was also kicking in Gillette Stadium, a traditional as old as times but for the other team this time. Gostkowski was released by New England last week and signed with Cleveland, where he kicked two extra points and got a standing ovation. Replacement Rodrigo Blankenship kicked in two field goals and all four extra points, including a 56-yarder.
Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
4:46 (NE) Team Safety
Quarter 2
10:11 (NE) N. Harry 8 Yd pass from T. Brady
8:03 (CLE) N. Chubb, 49 Yd run
6:14 (CLE) O. Beckham Jr. 96 Yd pass from B. Mayfield
0:32 (NE) R. Blankenship, 25 Yd FG
Quarter 3
9:09 (NE) J. Edelman 6 Yd pass from T. Brady
Quarter 4
14:12 (NE) R. Blankenship, 55 Yd FG
13:21 (NE) I. Simmons, returned interception 35 Yds
8:17 (NE) D. King, 10 Yd run
Player Stats
New England Patriots (1-0)
Tom Brady, QB: 34 of 46, 437 yards, 2 touchdowns.
Ke'Shawn Vaughn, HB: 10 carries, 29 yards.
D'Eriq King, HB: 8 carries, 46 yards, touchdown, 4 receptions, 45 yards.
N'Keal Harry, WR: 10 receptions, 122 yards, touchdown.
Julian Edelman, WR: 7 receptions, 91 yards, touchdown.
Grant Calcaterra, TE: 3 receptions, 36 yards.
Isaiah Simmons, OLB: 7 tackles, sack, interception, touchdown.
Pat Chung, S: 6 tackles, interception.
Cleveland Browns (0-1)
Baker Mayfield, QB: 25 of 33, 261 yards, touchdown, 2 interceptions.
Nick Chubb, HB: 6 carries, 61 yards, touchdown.
David Njoku, TE: 7 receptions, 38 yards.
Jarvis Landry, WR: 5 receptions, 36 yards.
Odell Beckham Jr, WR: 3 receptions, 117 yards, touchdown.
Jalen Elliott, S: 11 tackles.
Greedy Williams, CB: 10 tackles.
Joe Schobert, LB: 10 tackles.
Genard Avery, OLB: 9 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.
Terrance Mitchell, CB: 7 tackles, 2 sacks.
Olivier Vernon, DE: 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss.
