Mac Jones, Rhamondre Stevenson, Dominant Defense Drive Patriots' Blowout Win Over Browns
FOXBORO (CBS) -- The Patriots' win streak is alive and well.
New England shook off a long scoring drive on the opening possession of the game by Cleveland en route to a dominating 45-7 victory on their home field.
Mac Jones was outstanding, completing 19 of his 23 passes for 198 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who cleared concussion protocol over the weekend and was able to play, rushed for an even 100 yards with two touchdowns, while also catching four passes for 14 yards in his first career start. Kendrick Bourne had 98 receiving yards and one touchdown on four catches, plus three rushes for 43 yards. Hunter Henry caught two touchdowns, and Jakobi Meyers hauled in the first touchdown reception of his career.
Baker Mayfield completed just 11 of his 21 passes for 73 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He left late in the third quarter with a knee injury and did not return.
The Patriots have now won four straight games, improving their record to 6-4 on the season.
The Browns got the scoring started on the opening drive of the game, when Mayfield hit Austin Hooper in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line. The Browns drove 84 yards on 11 plays that drive, bolstered by 58 yards on four carries by D'Ernest Johnson.
The Patriots responded with a mammoth drive of their own, a 15-play, 83-yard drive that took 9:39 off the game clock. Jones completed a pass to Hunter Henry to convert an early third down, then hit Jakobi Meyers to convert another. Kendrick Bourne ran for 15 yards on a first-and-20, and Brandon Bolden had a 20-yard screen pass to convert a third-and-13 in the red zone. Jones hit Henry for a touchdown to end the drive, tying the game.
The Patriots' defense then came up big, with Christian Barmore and Dont'a Hightower pressuring Mayfield on a third-and-7, leading to a forced pass which Kyle Dugger stepped in front of for an interception. Dugger returned that pick 37 yards to the 5-yard line.
From there, Stevenson scored on the first play of the drive, giving New England a 14-7 lead.
The Patriots then doubled their lead with a mightily impressive 99-yard drive that began with Jones standing in his own end zone. Stevenson and the offensive line got the Patriots out of trouble, running for 27 yards on the first three plays of the drive. Jones would connect with Kendrick Bourne for 12 yards to convert a third down, and he'd cap off that drive by delivering a strike up the left seam to Bourne. With a defender on each side of him, Bourne went up and got that pass, coming down in the end zone to give the Patriots a 21-7 lead.
The Patriots' attempt to find the end zone again before halftime came up short, in large part due to a hands to the face penalty on Isaiah Wynn. But a Nick Folk field goal gave New England a 24-7 lead at halftime.
The teams exchanged punts to start the second half, before the Patriots embarked on another long scoring drive. New England drove 92 yards on eight plays, with Stevenson scoring his second touchdown of the day to increase New England's lead to 31-7.
Mayfield suffered an injury late in the third quarter, and the Patriots stretched the lead to 38-7 during his time on the sideline. Jones threw to Henry for his second touchdown reception of the day, and Jones' third touchdown pass of the game.
With Brian Hoyer in the game, the Patriots' onslaught continued. Jakobi Meyers scored the first (non-passing) touchdown of his career, escaping a tackle and leaping into the end zone with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots have little time to recover from this one, as they'll be hitting the road to play the Falcons in Atlanta on Thursday night. The Falcons dropped to 4-5 on the season with a blowout loss in Dallas on Sunday.
