Sports

Belichick earns 300th win, Edelman hauls in two TDs as Patriots down Browns

By David Souza
By David Souza

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — On a cold and rainy day in Foxborough, the New England Patriots forced turnovers early and jumped out to a three-score lead in the first quarter against the visiting Browns. They would maintain that double-digit lead for nearly the entire contest as they downed Cleveland, 27-13, at Gillette Stadium.

With New England's vaunted defense rolling after four interceptions against Sam Darnold and the New York Jets the week prior, the Patriots defense came out of the gate roaring. The self-named "Boogeymen" forced turnovers on three of the Browns' first four possessions.

The initial takeaway led to immediate points for New England, with LB Dont’a Hightower running a Nick Chubb fumble 26 yards into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.

On Cleveland's next play from scrimmage, Chubb coughed the ball up again, this time thanks to CB Jonathan Jones.

The defensive back chased down Chubb, who was in the midst of a 44-yard run to the New England 16-yard line. Jones punched the ball out, forcing a fumble that the Patriots were able to recover.

And while New England was forced to punt a few plays later, DL Lawrence Guy turned in his first interception of the season on the Browns’ next offensive snap. The Patriots were able to capitalize off Cleveland’s shaky first quarter, scoring 17 points and keeping the Browns off the scoreboard.

Related: Twisted comment by Browns WR Landry sparks Twitter uproar

Julian Edelman was responsible for a pair of New England touchdowns, hauling one in in each half. His 8-yard snag in the first quarter pushed the Patriots’ lead to 17 points while his 14-yard touchdown on the team’s first drive of the second half restored a multi-score lead for the Patriots.

With the win, the Patriots move to 8-0 and maintain their first-place standing in both the AFC and the AFC East. The Browns drop to 2-5 on the year.

Head Coach Bill Belichick earned his 300th win (including the postseason) with the victory over the Browns. Belichick is one of just three coaches to reach that feat in the NFL's 100 seasons. The other two are Dolphins legend Don Shula and Bears great George Halas.

Tom Brady finished the day 20-of-36 with 259 passing yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to Edelman. Brady's counterpart, Baker Mayfield, went 20-for-31 with 194 yards, one interception and a 21-yard touchdown pass to TE Demetrius Harris.

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