Cleveland (2-5) at New England (5-2)
Sunday 1 p.m. EDT, FOX
Against the spread: Browns 3-4; Patriots 5-2.
Series record: Patriots lead 14-13
Last meeting: Patriots beat Browns 38-15 in Cleveland on Oct. 16, 2022.
Last week: Browns beat Miami 31-6 at home. Patriots beat Tennessee 31-13 on the road.
Browns offense: overall (30), rush (28), pass (30), scoring (30).
Browns defense: overall (1), rush (4), pass (3), scoring (13t).
Patriots offense: overall (15), rush (21t), pass (8), scoring (8).
Patriots defense: overall (10), rush (2), pass (24), scoring (5).
Turnover differential: Patriots plus-2; Browns even.
RB Quinshon Judkins is leading NFL rookies with 467 rushing yards and has four carries of at least 30 yards. The second-round pick also has at least 70 scrimmage yards in five of the six games he has played. He scored three touchdowns last week against Miami, making him the first Browns rookie to accomplish that since Travis Prentice in 2000. Judkins is averaging 4.1 yards after contact per carry, which is third among players with at least 50 carries. He will be facing a Patriots defense that is allowing only 2.5 yards after contact per carry on designed runs, third fewest in the league.
QB Drake Maye has at least 200 passing yards and a passer rating of at least 100 in each of his past six starts. If he does it again this week, Maye would become the second player under the age of 24 and fifth player in NFL history to have at least 200 passing yards and a passer rating of 100-plus in seven consecutive games. He would join Aaron Rodgers (12 consecutive games in 2011 and eight in 2020), Tom Brady (eight in 2007), Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (eight in 2004) and Patrick Mahomes (seven in 2018 at age 23).
Browns DE Myles Garrett vs. Patriots LT Will Campbell. Campbell, a rookie selected fourth overall in April's draft, is projected to line up opposite Garrett, who has been aligned on the right edge on 82.9% of his snaps according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Garrett has generated 13 quick pressures (allowed in under 2.5 seconds), tied for fifth most in NFL. Campbell has allowed a team-high 27 pressures on 253 pass blocks. Of those, 11 have been quick pressures.
Browns: OT Jack Conklin should return after being inactive last week because of a concussion. ... DT Adin Huntington (concussion) and WR Jerry Jeudy (knee) did not practice on Wednesday. ... TE David Njoku remains day to day after missing last week's game with a knee injury.
Patriots: LB Harold Landry III (ankle), WR Stefon Diggs (chest) and DT Khyiris Tonga (knee) were all limited in Wednesday's practice. RT Morgan Moses and DT Christian Barmore also were limited for non-injury related reasons.
New England has won five straight and 10 of the past 12 since 1999. The Browns haven’t won in five trips to the Patriots’ current home since it opened in 2002 and have a seven-game skid in Foxborough.
New England coach Mike Vrabel was on Cleveland's staff last season as a coaching and personnel consultant. ... Cleveland has an 11-game road losing streak and has not won away from home since Week 2 of last season against Jacksonville. ... QB Dillon Gabriel is the sixth quarterback in the Super Bowl era with at least 100 pass attempts and no interceptions in his first three starts. ... TE Harold Fannin is the team's leading receiver with 32 catches and is second among NFL rookies in receptions and yards (290). ... TE David Njoku needs 5 yards to reach 4,000. ... G Joel Bitonio has started 168 games, the most by a Cleveland player since the team returned in 1999. ... The Browns have not allowed a 300-yard passer in 35 straight games, the longest active streak in the league. ... DE Myles Garrett is tied for the second in the league with 10 tackles for loss. ... LB Carson Schwesinger's 55 tackles lead NFL rookies. ... CB Denzel Ward is one of three active players with 100 passes defensed. ... CB Tyson Campbell had an interception return for a touchdown last week and is tied for second in the league with 10 passes defensed. ... The Patriots enter on a four-game win streak. A fifth straight victory would their longest since winning seven in a row during the 2021 season. ... New England is second in the NFL against the run, allowing 77.1 rushing yards per game. ... The Patriots are the only team in the NFL this season to not alllow 50 yards to a running back through the first seven games. The longest such streak since the 1970 merger is 10 games by Tampa Bay in 2020. Tennessee had a streak of eight games in 2021. ... Diggs enters the game with 896 receptions and needs four more to become the 29th player in NFL history 900 for his career. He is fifth among all active players in receptions, behind Travis Kelce (1,035), Keenan Allen (1,018), DeAndre Hopkins (993) and Devante Adams (988).
Thought he's facing a test from the Browns secondary, start Maye if you have him. He has thrown for at least two touchdown passes in five games this season, including five TDs over the past two games.
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