{"id":8434,"date":"2016-10-07T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T10:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=8434"},"modified":"2016-10-06T09:31:06","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T13:31:06","slug":"patriots-browns-key-matchups-razors-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2016\/10\/07\/patriots-browns-key-matchups-razors-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots, Browns Key Matchups, Who Has the Razor’s Edge?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> will play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.<\/p>\n

The game will be televised by CBS and can be seen locally on WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston. Greg Gumbel will handle play-by-play duties with Trent Green as the color analyst. Jamie Erdahl will work the sidelines. The game will also be aired on the Patriots flagship radio station 98.5 The SportsHub with Bob Socci and Scott Zolak on the call, produced by Marc Cappello.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Patriots<\/strong>\u00a0(3-1) lost to the Buffalo Bills 16-0 as the NE offense was shut out for the first time at home since 1993. Rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett got the start in lieu of Jimmy Garoppolo and couldn\u2019t get the team into the end zone. The defense played soft and was gashed by both the Bills running and passing games.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Browns <\/strong>(0-4) lost to the Washington Redskins 30-21 with a key play being the controversial \u201cfumble\u201d loss by Duke Johnson. Rookie QB Cody Kessler completed 28-40 passes for 223 yards with a touchdown and interception. Running back Isaiah Crowell ran for 120 yards on just 16 carries with a touchdown.<\/p>\n

We here at\u00a0PatsFans.com<\/a>\u00a0are continuing our \u201cRazor\u2019s Edge\u201d\u00a0column in 2016 to give some quick\u00a0analysis on some of the key matchups of the game and what you can look for in how the game plays out.<\/p>\n

Series History:<\/strong>
\nThe Patriots and Browns are meeting for the 24th<\/sup> time on Sunday with Cleveland holding a 13-10 overall advantage all-time over the Pats. Most of the games took place in the days before Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore. Cleveland has always done well against NE at home holding a 9-4 edge. The last time the teams met in Cleveland in 2010, Peyton Hillis gashed the Pats for 184 yards and two TDs and Colt McCoy picked apart the defense in a 34-14 win.<\/p>\n

The Patriots won the last meeting 27-26 back in 2013 when Danny Amendola scored on a touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 30 seconds left in the game. It was also the game Rob Gronkowski was injured. But very few members of that Browns team remain.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at some of the key matchups and who holds the Razor\u2019s Edge.<\/p>\n

First up is the Patriots offense:<\/p>\n

Patriots RBs vs Browns Front Seven –\u00a0Razor\u2019s Edge New England
\n<\/em><\/strong>The Patriots dedicated themselves to running the football in the first month of the season during Tom Brady\u2019s suspension and LaGarrette Blount was the go-to guy, running for 352 yards. He got banged up along with Brandon Bolden in the Buffalo game so it will be interesting to see how well he\u2019s running on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Browns run a 3-4 defense with NT Danny Shelton the big, 6\u20192, 335-pound run stuffer in his second season clogging the middle. He\u2019s flanked by the big Stephen Paea and Jamie Meder on the line, rookie DL Carl Nassib has been banged up but may return for this one. He\u2019s been very good at the right defensive end position.<\/p>\n

With Brady back, the Patriots won\u2019t be as run heavy but still should be able to run effectively on this Browns front seven. They\u2019re giving up an average of 118 yards per game. Look for the Patriots to mix up their looks with obvious run packages and spreading them out and running in the \u201c3-gaps\u201d with Blount.<\/p>\n

Patriots WRs vs Browns Secondary –\u00a0Razor\u2019s Edge New England
\n<\/em><\/strong>The Patriots passing game should start to round into the form we can expect to see this season now that Brady is returning. He may have to shake off some rust but with a bunch of weapons to throw to, he\u2019ll have plenty of options to keep the Browns off balance. Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and rookie Malcolm Mitchell on the outside will be buoyed by Martellus Bennett and Rob Gronkowski at tight end with James White coming out of the backfield.<\/p>\n

The Browns got Pro Bowl CB Joe Haden back last week against the Redskins after he missed the OT loss to Miami with a groin injury. He registered five tackles and an interception, his second of the year on Sunday. But the Browns defense will have a tough time matching up.<\/p>\n

With Brady back, the offense will be opening up the entire playbook now and no one sees the field as well as #12 does, especially with his pre-snap reads. Look for the Patriots to spread them out and look for mismatches.\u00a0 The tight ends, Bennett and Gronkowski should be primed to see a lot of targets as the Browns don\u2019t match up well in this area. James White out of the backfield should also see plenty of work.<\/p>\n

Next up the Cleveland offense:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Browns RBs vs NE Front Seven –\u00a0Razor\u2019s Edge Cleveland
\n<\/em><\/strong>The Cleveland running game is the key from the Brown’s\u00a0perspective to winning not just this matchup but the game. They\u2019ll have to have significant success running the ball, and keeping NE\u2019s offense on the bench. With Isaiah Crowell, the Browns have a big back who can not only grind out the tough yards inside but if he gets to the second level is a back who can get big plays every time he touches the ball. Crowell has run for 386 yards and is\u00a0averaging 6.4-yards per rush with three TDs in 2016.<\/p>\n

The Patriots had been doing a good job of stopping the run until a week ago against Buffalo. There they frequently were in good position to stop LeSean McCoy and Tyrod Taylor at or behind the line of scrimmage but the tackling was poor and they were gashed for 134 yards. The key here will be limiting Crowell and forcing the ball into Kessler\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

The Browns will get some yards with Crowell, Duke Johnson and Terrelle Pryor getting some touches. \u00a0New Browns head coach Hue Jackson wanted to establish a run-first approach and they\u2019ve done that. The question is, will it be enough to keep the game close enough for four quarters?<\/p>\n

Browns WRs vs NE Secondary-\u00a0Razor\u2019s Edge New England
\n<\/em><\/strong>Cleveland doesn\u2019t have a dynamic passing attack. Kessler, due to injuries, was pressed into starting after both Robert W. Griffin III and Josh McCown went down with injuries. They have the multi-talented Pryor on the outside with the talented tight end Gary Barnidge and Duke Johnson out of the backfield. But not much else. They really could\u2019ve used the talented but troubled Josh Gordon as a big-time playmaker with the offense but he\u2019s entered rehab.<\/p>\n

The Patriots made the curious (and poor) decision to play soft and give a limited passing offense in Buffalo plenty of room to throw the ball underneath. That was a major factor in them losing the game. I\u2019d expect them to bracket Pryor underneath with a corner and over the top with a safety. This is a week to pin their ears back some with the pass rush against an OL that has allowed 11 sacks.<\/p>\n

Expect the Browns to open the playbook and throw the kitchen sink at the Patriots in this one. Pryor will take snaps at both WR and QB and he\u2019ll be the guy, in the passing game that they\u2019ll have to stop. Look for the Patriots to get after Kessler in this one. DEs Jabaal Sheard, Chris Long, and Trey Flowers will be bolstered by the return of Rob Ninkovich in this one. The secondary is more than capable enough to handle this passing attack.<\/p>\n

Special Teams-<\/strong>Razor\u2019s Edge New England<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em>The Patriots are getting some outstanding work by punter Ryan Allen who turned in his second outstanding game in a row against the Bills. He\u2019s been excellent at pinning the opposition down deep in their zone. Stephen Gostkowski missed another field goal attempt on Sunday and is 6-8 for the season. But Gostkowski has the decided edge over Browns replacement kicker Cody Parkey who missed three field goals in the game against Miami, including a potential game-winner at the end of regulation.<\/p>\n

Cleveland\u2019s return game has largely been stuck in neutral thus far and their coverage units haven\u2019t been solid allowing close to twice what the Patriots coverage units have been averaging. If rookie Cyrus Jones can hold onto the ball this week, he should find some room to run.<\/p>\n

Next up, who wins and why\u2026<\/p>\n

Prediction:
\n<\/strong>This game will probably not be the blowout that many fans are predicting this week. Cleveland, despite being 0-4 has been in every game other than their opener. They could have easily won their last three but failed to generate enough offense in the second half to put them over the top. In fact, in the four games, they\u2019ve only managed 18 points while allowing 57 from their opponents.<\/p>\n

So I think they\u2019re going to hang tough in the first half. Their running game can be a difference maker and slow the tempo of the game down and keep the Patriots offense off the field. What Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels is going to want to do here from a Patriots perspective is to start fast and get them out of that running mode, forcing them to throw.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know how much rust Brady will have in this one, it may take him some time getting into a rhythm with the wide receivers and tight ends but the Patriots have too many weapons for Cleveland to defend. Eventually, the Patriots are going to find the cracks in the defense and exploit them. Blount will be a factor late in the game as the Patriots will close them out with a solid road win. Patriots 31-17<\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow me on Twitter\u00a0<\/em>@SteveB7SFG<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or email me at\u00a0<\/em>stevebpatsfans@gmail.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to our\u00a0<\/em>Patriots 4th<\/sup>\u00a0and 2<\/em><\/a>\u00a0podcasts on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and I from\u00a0<\/em>PatsFans.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0discuss the latest Patriots news Wednesdays at 12 noon.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots will play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. The game will be televised by CBS and can be seen locally on WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston. Greg Gumbel will handle play-by-play duties with Trent Green as the color analyst. Jamie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[1066,800,34,46,599,929,325,988,18,69,154,1178,1182,16,14,1181,17,24,15,44,70,8,38,248,117,36,1179,13,35],"class_list":["post-8434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-commentary","category-patriots-news","tag-2016-nfl-season","tag-2016-patriots-season","tag-bill-belichick","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-chris-hogan","tag-chris-long","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-cody-kessler","tag-danny-amendola","tag-deflategate","tag-donta-hightower","tag-hue-jackson","tag-isaiah-crowell","tag-jabaal-sheard","tag-jimmy-garoppolo","tag-joe-haden","tag-julian-edelman","tag-lagarrette-blount","tag-malcolm-butler","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-edge-rushers","tag-predictions","tag-rob-gronkowski","tag-rob-ninkovich","tag-terrelle-pryor","tag-tom-brady","tag-trey-flowers"],"yoast_head":"\nPatriots, 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