FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots are off to their best start since they had Bill Belichick calling plays and Tom Brady slinging passes.
Drake Maye passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots handled the Cleveland Browns 32-13 on Sunday. The victory improved New England’s record to 6-2, its best start since the Belichick-Brady Pats started 8-0 in 2019. The Patriots also now own the league’s longest winning streak, at five straight.
Meanwhile, the Browns, who were coming off a victory over Miami last week, managed just 213 yards of total offense and dropped to 2-6. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel completed just 21 of 35 passes for 156 yards. He threw two interceptions and two touchdowns.
Drake Maye draws ‘MVP’ chants from Pats fans
Maye had been arguably the NFL’s hottest player, but it was fair to note that all the success of the last four weeks came against some pretty weak opponents.
Now, Maye has done it against one of the best defenses in the NFL.
The Patriots’ offensive line struggled, but Maye still compiled his 282 yards on 18-for-24 passing. He threw one interception in addition to his three touchdowns. He joined Matt Cassell (2008) as the only players in Patriots history with 250-plus passing yards, 50-plus rushing yards and three or more passing TDs in a single game.
He was so good that Gillette Stadium was chanting “MVP” before the fourth quarter even started.
That was while Maye’s offensive line struggled for stretches and while the offense as a whole was in a rut against the Browns early. Oh, and Maye added 53 rushing yards on four scrambles.
The 23-year-old continues to play as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and his MVP candidacy is very much legit. The Browns entered this game with one of the best defenses in the league. And while they slowed the Pats down early (New England didn’t have a touchdown in the first half), Maye got rolling late in the second quarter and poured it on in the second half.
If there were going to be a game where Maye slowed down, it figured to be this one. But Maye continues to play as a top quarterback.
At one point later in the third quarter, he scrambled for 28 yards, then popped right up and chucked a 39-yard touchdown into the end zone for Kayshon Boutte. Just another incredible game for Maye. — Chad Graff, Patriots beat writer
BOUTTE BOMB 💣@DrakeMaye2 | @KayshonBoutte1
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/swF9gYUYS8
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 26, 2025
Myles Garrett has team-record five sacks
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett set a franchise single-game record with five sacks. That the Browns were down 30-7 when Garrett recorded his fifth sack says it all about the state of things with the Browns. It says a lot about Garrett’s talent level, too. Garrett’s first two sacks Sunday came on third-down plays with the Patriots in the red zone.
Opposing offenses continually design game plans and blocking schemes around not letting Garrett blow things up, but Garrett continues to produce. On Sunday, Garrett passed Reggie White for the most career sacks by a player under the age of 30. Garrett now has 112.5 sacks in his career and 10 this season, tied for the most in the NFL with Brian Burns at the conclusion of Sunday’s 1 p.m, ET games. — Zac Jackson, Browns beat writer
Time for Browns to focus on future
A week after a dominating win at home, the Browns crashed back to reality. They don’t have enough offense or offensive weapons to keep up, and with a bye week looming ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline, it’s time for the Browns to focus fully on the future.
They opened Sunday’s game with a 70-yard scoring drive, capped by a Gabriel touchdown throw to fellow rookie Harold Fannin Jr., but they only had 113 total yards at halftime. Everything really crashed down in the third quarter, and by the end of the game, their best offensive player, rookie running back Quinshon Judkins, was sidelined by a shoulder injury. Rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger left with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, too, and is scheduled for an MRI on Monday. Schwesinger’s injury came not long before Gabriel was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone, giving the Patriots a safety.
The Browns are 2-6 after eight games for the second consecutive season, and the offense has completely bottomed out. It’s impossible to say what’s next for head coach and play caller Kevin Stefanski in his quest to fix things, and that raises larger questions about the whole operation. — Jackson
Time for more TreVeyon Henderson
The Patriots have been reluctant all season to turn TreVeyon Henderson loose, given their concerns about his abilities between the tackles and given how he’s fared in pass protection.
But after Sunday’s game, they might not have a choice anymore. If the game against the Browns was any indication, it’s time for Henderson to get a lot more carries.
That’s because while the Pats seem dead set on sticking with Rhamondre Stevenson as their top back, Henderson outplayed Stevenson against the Browns. Henderson did fumble near the goal line late in a blowout, which isn’t going to help his chances of earning more playing time, but everything else he did Sunday should help.
Stevenson managed just 34 yards on 14 carries, while Henderson ran for 77 yards on 10 carries.
The Patriots like the steadiness (his previous fumbles notwithstanding) and physicality Stevenson brings, and feel like Henderson still has some finer points to learn.
But Henderson was explosive with the ball in his hands Sunday, and deserves a bigger role in the offense. — Graff
Patriots’ defense deserves some shine
Yes, this was just a performance against a Browns team that is a mess offensively, but the Patriots’ defense deserves some shine for the way they’ve been playing.
After allowing Cleveland to go 70 yards for a touchdown on its opening possession, the Patriots’ defense totally dominated, holding the Browns to only 143 yards the rest of the game.
“Once their gimmick plays ran out, I thought we played good defense,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said after the game.
Robert Spillane intercepted Dillon Gabriel and nearly brought it back for a pick six in the third quarter, then Jaylin Hawkins hauled in an impressive pick on a deep ball from Gabriel the following drive to really punctuate an impressive day defensively.
If you’re going to nitpick, the Patriots could still use more from their pass rush (they only had one sack and it came late in the game Sunday), but they did a nice job stopping one of the better rushing offenses in the NFL. Overall, a good game from that unit.
They have now allowed a touchdown on the opening drive in six of eight games, so starting faster will be a point of emphasis once again, but it’s hard to complain too much given the way they played after that. — Graff
Gabriel isn’t good enough to do it on his own
After avoiding interception over his first 121 NFL pass attempts, Gabriel threw two interceptions in the third quarter Sunday as the Patriots turned control into complete domination. The Patriots returned his first interception to the Cleveland 6-yard line to set up another easy score.
More than the interceptions, though, Gabriel was mostly hopeless in the pocket. The Browns can’t create anything down the field, and defenses are capitalizing accordingly. The Browns need Jerry Jeudy to be their lead wide receiver, but Jeudy has struggled with drops all season and wasn’t even targeted Sunday until the game was out of hand.
The failures of the offense don’t fall on Gabriel, but in his four starts, he’s shown little to make anyone believe he can be a successful NFL starter. He was overdrafted in the third round, and everyone but the Browns knew it. Stefanski said that Gabriel will remain his starting quarterback. — Jackson
