Watch: Dont’a Hightower Recover Nick Chubb Fumble, Return For Patriots Touchdown

The Cleveland Browns won the opening coin toss and deferred. The Patriots used a similar strategy to the one they relied on last week against the New York Jets. Two tight ends on the first two snaps, four wide receivers on the next two. Simple as that. Quarterback Tom Brady fired incomplete to Mohamed Sanu on second-and-9 and threw the football away while pressured on third down which led to a Patriots punt. After a Browns three-and-out, New England had a 12-play, 71-yard drive that finished with a 20-yard field goal by Mike Nugent. Lawrence Guy forced a Nick Chubb fumble and it was recovered by Dont’a Hightower. He ran it 26 yards to the house for six points followed by a PAT to bring the score 10-0.

Two key plays on the drive took everyone’s attention. It was Brady’s 33-yard completion from Brady to Phillip Dorsett on third-and-6 and a 10-yard pickup by Julian Edelman on fourth-and-7.

New England turned down a 51-yard field-goal attempt to go for it on fourth down, promoting the trend that persisted since Nugent replaced Stephen Gostkowski in Week 6. They don’t really trust Nugent’s range, especially in sloppy conditions like this one.

The Patriots drove to Cleveland’s 2-yard line before Sony Michel was stuffed for no gain. Brady threw his third end-zone interception of the season. Cornerback Denze Ward couldn’t hold on, and New England settled for a chip-shot field goal.

“The Baker Mayfield-Odell Beckham Jr. connection has underwhelmed through six games. OBJ is averaging 8.1 yards per target, significantly less than that of Jarvis Landry or even Ricky Seals-Jones,” Gregg Rosenthal reported. “That’s a result of poor timing from the duo, poor throws from Mayfield and a surprising amount of catchable passes Beckham hasn’t come down with. I’m fascinated to see how Freddie Kitchens and Mayfield will attempt to fix the issue in Foxborough, especially with Beckham likely to draw Stephon Gilmore plenty. New England’s heavy press-man-coverage approach should be susceptible to big plays, but the Pats haven’t faced an offense explosive enough to take advantage of their aggression. This Browns offense is fully capable of spiking for one week and resetting expectations after a shaky start, but I don’t trust their coaches, players or defense to handle all the situational-football pressure Bill Belichick and Tom Brady apply in a surprising thriller.”