Cleveland Browns upset the New England Patriots
One week after upsetting the defending Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints, the Cleveland Browns were at it again as they upset the NFL leading New England Patriots 34-14 on Sunday 7, November.
How it happened
The Browns got themselves off to an early lead putting together a strong opening drive that led to a field goal, and taking advantage of the Patriots fumbled kickoff return which gave the Browns excellent
field position. They converted that for a touchdown.
The Browns and Patriots then traded second quarter touchdowns to put the Browns into the lead going into half time 17-7.
The Browns went further ahead in the third quarter when rookie quarterback Colt McCoy went scrambling out of the pocket, got a couple of good blocks and went diving into the end zone after a 16-yard run
to score.
The Patriots fought back as tight end Aaron Hernandez caught his second touchdown pass of the day to bring the game to 27-14 in the fourth quarter. But Browns running back Peyton Hillis put the game out
of reach with a 35-yard run for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Hillis' performance on the day was one of the key factors to the Browns success as the third year running back had over 200 total yards on the day, including 184 along the ground, and two touchdowns. The
Browns defence was also solid holding the Patriots to under 300 yards of total offence in the game.
What they're saying
Despite their 3-5 record, the Browns are riding high with confidence after beating two of the NFL's best teams in back-to-back weeks.
"We know we can beat anybody," Browns wide receiver Joshua Cribbs said. "If you beat these supposedly best two teams in the league, it gives us confidence there isn't one team in this league that we don't
think we can beat."
"They did everything better than we did," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said about the game. "In every single aspect, they clearly were the better team. We have a lot of work to do."
"We were out of sync all day," Patriots quarterback Brady said of his team's performance. "It was not a good day at all. As an offence, we didn't do much to advance the ball, and that includes the quarterback.
If we play like we played today we are not going to beat anybody."
What it all means
With the win, Browns coach Eric Mangini improves to 3-5 against his former mentor, which is also what the Browns improved their season record to. Mangini will go up against his former team, the New York
Jets, when the two teams play in Cleveland next week.
With the loss, the Patriots fall to 6-2 and lose their stranglehold of first overall in the NFL. They have a mighty tough assignment next week as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers.
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