Chomps
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- Mar 18, 2019
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The Patriots gave up their first points since the second quarter of Week Six, but that wasn’t enough to keep them from taking a lead into halftime of their game against the Browns.
New England forced turnovers on three straight Cleveland offensive snaps in the first quarter and turned them into 14 points that helped them to a 17-0 lead. The Browns snapped the scoreless string with a Baker Mayfield touchdown pass to tight end Demetrius Harris in the second quarter, but they couldn’t draw any closer than 17-7 before the break.
The first two Browns turnovers were fumbles by Nick Chubb. Dont'a Hightower returned one for a touchdown and the second came at the end of a 44-yard run that briefly looked like it would put the Browns inside the red zone. Those fumbles overshadow what’s been a productive day by Chubb as he’s gained 92 yards on 10 carries, but it is hard to focus on much else given how costly those turnovers have been for the Browns.
Penalties have also been costly because the Patriots offense hasn’t gotten much going thus far. They cashed in a short field for a Julian Edelman touchdown catch, but they’ve punted twice and seen two other drives into the red zone result in field goal tries. The second of those tries was blocked by Denzel Ward, so there’s things for the Patriots to clean up as they try to finish off their eighth win in eight tries this season.