Cleveland
The four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback returned from his suspension and immediately turned the New England offense into a smooth-running operation. Brady threw three touchdown passes to tight end Martellus Bennett and the Patriots overwhelmed the outmatched Cleveland Browns, 33-13, here Sunday.
“Everyone was intense today,” said New England tight end Rob Gronkowski. “Everyone was amped up. Tom always brings the amp-ness to the table. So we were just excited to get back out there, get back on track and get a win.”
So much for the notion that Brady might be rusty. He was sharp from the outset and threw for 406 yards in a 28-for-40 passing display. He didn’t throw an interception and was given a little more time off for his efforts, as Jimmy Garoppolo took over at quarterback with a little more than six minutes to play in the lopsided game.
Gronkowski, asked if he’d seen any rust in Brady’s game, said: “Did you? Me neither.”
But Brady wasn’t fully satisfied.
“I think there was plenty of rust out there,” he said. “I could do better in a lot of areas. I think it was a good win today. But it was one game. Like I said, 4-1 is a good place to be for us. We’ve got a long road ahead.”
Brady also demonstrated some emotion in his first game of the season. He pumped his fist as he exited the field following pregame warmups. After running, not exactly swiftly, for a first down on a third-quarter scramble, Brady was pushed to the ground by Cleveland’s Emmanuel Ogbah along the Browns’ sideline. Brady got to his feet quickly and gave a rather exaggerated celebratory first-down signal.
“I was just trying to focus on what my job is and what I have to do,” Brady said. “It felt very much like a normal week for me once I got into it. It’s fun to come out and play and fun to win.”
Bennett wasn’t the only beneficiary of Brady’s presence in the lineup. Brady also got Gronkowski involved in the offense from the opening drive. He had two long completions to wide receiver Chris Hogan in a first half in which he connected on 18 of 25 throws for 271 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots scored touchdowns on their first three offensive possessions en route to improving their record to 4-1.
Hogan and Gronkowski each topped 100 receiving yards for the day.
“It was good to have Tom back, good to have Rob back,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We moved the ball offensively. There are some things that we obviously can do better in that area.”
The Browns, the NFL’s only winless team, fell to 0-5. They also may have lost another quarterback or two. Rookie Cody Kessler exited the game with chest and rib injuries. Kessler was Cleveland’s third different starter at the position this season, following the injured Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown.
Terrelle Pryor, the former quarterback converted to wide receiver, took over at quarterback for two plays, then gave way to Charlie Whitehurst. But Whitehurst limped off the field after hurting his knee in the fourth quarter and the Browns went back to Pryor. Whitehurst did return to take the final snap of the game on a kneel-down.
The Patriots went 3-1 while Brady served his four-game Deflategate suspension, and the coaching brilliance of Belichick was on vivid display in two victories with Garoppolo starting at quarterback and one more with rookie Jacoby Brissett in charge after Garoppolo suffered a shoulder injury. But New England was coming off a shutout loss at home to the Buffalo Bills, putting to rest any thought that Brady was not particularly needed.
He has plenty of options on this deep and talented offense. LeGarrette Blount was the league’s third-leading rusher when the day began. Brady has two capable pass-catchers at tight end in Gronkowski and Bennett. Opponents must try to match up with Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Hogan at wide receiver.
Brady and the rest of the New England offense took the field, following a Browns’ punt on the game’s opening possession, to an enthusiastic ovation by the many Patriots fans on hand at FirstEnergy Stadium. It was if Brady never had been away. He threw a short completion to Edelman on his first play. He connected with Gronkowski for a 19-yard gain on the second play.
Gronkowski, plagued by a hamstring injury, had one catch this season entering Sunday’s game. He had two catches on the opening drive alone, and one more by halftime. He plowed his way over and around Browns defenders for a 34-yard catch and run on a third-and-eight play to set up Blount’s one-yard touchdown run to cap Brady’s first drive back.
The Browns got even on Kessler’s 11-yard touchdown pass to wideout Andrew Hawkins. But there was no slowing Brady in the game’s early going. He threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bennett on New England’s second possession. That produced chants of “Bra-dy! Bra-dy!” by the crowd.
The Patriots’ lead increased to 16-7 on the play on which Kessler was injured. Kessler was hit by the Patriots’ Dont’a Hightower on a pass attempt near his own goal line. The football went backward, hit the ground and rolled out of the end zone for a safety. The Patriots took the ensuing free kick and made it three touchdowns in three drives. Brady’s 43-yard completion to Hogan set up his five-yard touchdown pass to Bennett.
It was 23-7 at halftime after the Cleveland defense managed a goal line stand, stopping Blount on a fourth-down carry from the 1-yard line, and Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski later pushed a 50-yard field goal attempt wide right. But Brady and Bennett struck again in the third quarter, with their 37-yard touchdown making it 30-7.
“This isn’t a time for me to reflect,” Brady said. “I’m just happy we won today. I’m happy we win every time we play. I have a job to do. There’s no point in looking back at anything whether we won Super Bowls or lost championship games or the last four weeks. None of it matters. I just go out and do the best I can do every week.”