Getty New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
The New England Patriots dismantled the New York Jets 33-0 on Monday Night Football, pushing their record to a perfect 7-0 in impressive fashion.
But regardless of the lopsided result, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick knows there’s no time to sit around and celebrate. His team gets the 2-4 Cleveland Browns next on a short week and the future Hall of Fame skipper was no doubt laying in bed watching film on Odell Beckham Jr., Baker Mayfield and Myles Garrett.
“Cleveland practiced today so, I mean, they’re already way ahead of us,” Belichick told his team after the win. “We got a lot of catching up to do.”
Coming out of the bye week, if the Browns have one thing going for them its desperation. Despite being idle, the team got bad news when the Ravens moved to 5-2 with an upset of the Seahawks on Sunday, making the quest for their first division title in 30 years just a little tougher.
“Nothing has changed for us. We are more worried about us than the Ravens. We play them again,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said. “We are worried about us. It does not matter if we do not get better, continue to get better and do what we are supposed to do. We can only control us. What you are describing is across the league. There are 16 happy teams a week not counting the byes.
“There are 16 happy teams and 16 teams that the world is ending. We just want to be one of those happy teams more often than we are not. We are trying to stay focused on what we can control and that is how we practiced today and how we prepared in the meeting. We will worry about Wednesday on Wednesday, Thursday on Thursday and on down the week. When we get to Sunday, we need to put them in good positions to make plays and they need to make the plays.”
Patriots Pick-Happy Defense on Collision Course With Baker Mayfield
The Patriots lead the NFL in interceptions with 18.
Baker Mayfield leads the NFL in interceptions with 11. The Patriots defense leads the NFL with 18 interceptions — more than twice the amount of the next closes team.
The Patriots were back to their pick-happy ways on Monday night against Sam Darnold, who said during the game that he was “seeing ghosts.” Darnold went 11-of-32 for a career-low 86 yards, was sacked once for a loss of 13 yards and tied a career-high with four interceptions. The Browns have to hope that Mayfield can handle the pressure from the NFL’s best defense better than his draft class comrade did.
Mayfield was dealing with a hip injury before the bye, but Kitchens said his QB looked sharp in the team’s return to the field.
“I thought he looked good today – focused, concentrated, threw the ball well and moved around well,” Kitchens said. “He is good to go.”
Browns Huge Underdogs vs. Patriots
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The Browns opened as huge underdogs for their matchup against New England in Foxborough, with the line setting the Patriots as 10.5-point favorites, according to Odds Shark.
The Patriots have been double-digit favorites in five games this season, covering the number in all but one.
The Browns are 2-4 against the spread and are 2-1 on the road.
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