CLEVELAND, OH – Well, a win is a win, and the Patriots are 4-0 for only the third time in club history.
While the final score was 19-7, the game could have gone the other way very easily. The Patriots committed two turnovers, both by wide receiver Terry Glenn who fumbled the ball away twice. The fumbles ended drives in which the Patriots would most definitely have scored on.
As for Glenn, he set a new club record for receptions in a game with 13, breaking Ben Coates’ previous record of 12 set back in Nov. 27, 1994 against Indianapolis. He finished the day with 13 catches for 214 yards, and also had a 54yd touchdown reception. His two fumbles made life difficult for the Patriots as both occurred either inside or near the red zone ending scoring opportunities. Head Coach Pete Carroll talked about the turnovers following the game.
“Terry got the ball taken away from him a couple times on drives that really offset the tempo of the first half for us,” said Carroll. “Whenever you give the ball to the other team, it’s hard.”
“I said stuff to him during the day, but there isn’t a whole lot to say that he doesn’t know. He came back and had a monster game, but it still doesn’t allow us to say [it’s O.K.] if you have a big day. Our whole philosophy is built around taking care of the football. We almost gave ourselves a day that we didn’t win because of it.”
Drew Bledsoe put in yet another solid performance, finishing the day 28-of-42 for 389 yards and 1 touchdown. He was sacked 5 times, and Cleveland did a great job of getting pressure on him.
“He got pounded today,” said Carroll. “You hate to see him get knocked around, especially when they get piled up around his legs. He made it through, he’s tough as nails.”
Not to mention the fact that with all the pressure he had on him, he did not throw an interception.
The Patriots went right to work moving the ball down the field on their first possession of the game, with Bledsoe finding Shawn Jefferson on a perfectly thrown ball for a 32 gain. But they gave up a scoring opportunity when just two plays later Corey Fuller stripped away the football from Terry Glenn after the catch, and Cleveland recovered at their own 28 yard line. New England dodged a bullet when former Patriots kicker Phil Dawson missed a 38yd field goal wide right following the turnover.
The Browns got on the board first following a 64yd touchdown pass to Kevin Johnson from Tim Couch, and the Browns led 7-0. New England once again found themselves down early for the fourth straight week. The Patriots have been outscored 28-3 in the first quarter so far through the first four games.
A 25yd reception by Terry Glenn set up a 22yd field goal by Adam Vinatieri, and the Patriots were on the board 7-3, with 10:21 remaining in the first half.
Bledsoe would later call on Glenn once again on the Patriots’ next possession, and Glenn took off to the races up the sideline. Marquez Pope ran him down and stripped the ball from behind, and caused the second fumble by Glenn. The Browns recovered the ball, but the play would be reviewed because it appeared that Cleveland Brown Ryan McNeil recovered the ball while he was out of bounds. Pete Carroll’s challenge was denied, and the play would stand.
New England managed to put together one last drive at the end of the half, and Vinatieri booted a 21yd field goal to bring the Patriots within 1, down 7-6 going into the locker room.
And again, the second half was all New England.
The Patriots took the lead early in the 3rd Quarter 13-7, after a 30yd pass to Troy Brown set up a 3yd touchdown run by Terry Allen. It looked as though the Patriots were back to their second half form, as they’ve now outscored their opponents 66-19 in the second half through their first four games.
They got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff when Cleveland’s David Dunn fumbled the kick-off, and Kato Serwanga recovered at the Browns 31yd line. The Patriots would fail to capitalize however, and Adam Vinatieri just missed his 42yd field goal attempt wide right. The miss by Vinatieri was his first of the season.
The Patriots later added a touchdown when Drew Bledsoe completed a pass to Terry Glenn, and Glenn took off 54 yards down the field for the score. New England’s two-point conversion failed, and the Patriots led 19-7 which was the final.
“We missed some opportunities early,” said Carroll following the game. “We weren’t clicking. But I think once the game got going, you could tell the guys really felt like they could control the game. We overcame the early problems and sharpened up our game. I wish it wasn’t that way, but I’m glad we got it.”
The Patriots will travel to Kansas City next week to take on the Chiefs. New England has not won a game in Arrowhead Stadium since 1964, and a much improved Chiefs team is sure to be up for an undefeated Patriots team. New England will definitely need to come out earlier if they plan on improving to 5-0, which they would do for the first time since 1974.
GAME NOTES: Bruce Armstrong surpassed John Hannah for the most starts in club history with 184, and Adam Vinatieri hit his 106th straight extra point, breaking Gino Capelletti’s record of 105.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
