3 keys to a victory over the New England Patriots

Over the first three games of the season, the Browns allowed just 251 yards rushing or 83.7 yards per game. The last two weeks however, both losses, have seen the Browns allow back-to-back 200-plus yards rushing to the Falcons and the Chargers. In those two games, the Browns are giving up 220 yards and two touchdowns per game on a ridiculous 6.5-plus yards per carry. In fact, the Browns have allowed at last 4.7 yards per carry in four straight games.

The Patriots have the No. 9 rushing offense in the NFL, averaging 138 yards and one touchdown rushing per game on 4.6 yards per carry. Rhamondre Stevenson is coming off a career-high 161 yards rushing against the Detroit Lions, and the 230-pound bull is averaging 5.5 yards per carry this year, third best in the league. The Browns will either schematically — or through better execution and tackling — figure out how to stop the run because the Patriots will absolutely challenge them on the ground.

Something else to consider is that Bailey Zappe is averaging 12.1 yards per attempt and has a quarterback rating of 156.6 when utilizing play action, but those numbers fall to 5.7 yards per attempt and 65.5 rating without play action. Getting the Patriots into obvious passing situations will be critical, and that starts with stopping the run.

The Browns are 11-2 under Kevin Stefanski all time when they do not commit a single turnover and they are 2-0 this year with a clean sheet. They are 0-3, however, when committing just one turnover in 2022. The Browns must protect the ball against the Patriots in order to secure the win, and you better believe that the Pats will be ball seeking on Sunday.

Finally, the Browns have to clean up the details: no blown assignments, no missed field goals or extra points and no bad penalties that give 15-yard chunks or extend/stop drives. The Browns are the better team, as they have been in basically all of their games this year, but that…