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New England Patriots Fall to the Cleveland Browns in Preseason Finale
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- New England Patriots Fall to the Cleveland Browns in Preseason Finale
(Ken Blaze)
The New England Patriots had a frustrating evening in their final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field. Where they would lose their final preseason game, 37-13.
Browns backup quarterback Dillion Gabriel threw two touchdowns to wide receiver Luke Floriea, and Patriots QB3 Behren Morton threw to tight end CJ Dippre , which bounced off his foot into linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold .
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That alone was just the first quarter, and it wasn't like Drake Maye and the rest of the starters were going to put pads on and go save the day.
Before Morton took the field and an early Browns' surge took over the game, Patriots backup quarterback Tommy DeVito threw a dime of a pass to wide receiver Kyle Williams from 45 yards out to tie the game at 7-7. It seemed like we would be in for an exhibition-style shootout.
We were wrong; DeVito played one more series and was done for the night. He finished 8 of 15 pass attempts for 151 yards and 1 touchdown.
By the second quarter, Andre Szmyt made a 47-yard field goal to push Cleveland's lead to 13 points, a 20-7 lead. The Browns capped off their pummeling of the Patriots' backup defenders with his third passing touchdown of the night, which was a pass to running back Ahmani Marshall. 27-13 Browns at the half.
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The third preseason game of the year is a game you don't want to play badly in. The list of Patriots depth players who had a lackluster performance seems endless.
Notable mistakes: Browns running back Emmanuel McNeil-Warren fumbled in the third quarter near a slew of Patriots defenders; not one blue jersey dove for it and recovered it. Browns wideout Ben Patterson was able to scoop it up. A roughing the passer penalty called on edge rusher Amari Gainer kept the Patriots defense on the field and got them deeper in a hole in the second quarter when they almost got the Browns off the field.
The camera cutting to Mike Vrabel's facial expressions said it all. Vrabel's comments about his worries about depth came true against the Browns. Players like Kindle Vildor , who were on fire the last few weeks , were bulldozed over at the goal line early on in Floriea's first touchdown.
Third running back hopeful Lan Larison had a pair of drops early on, which forced a three-and-out and got the Browns offense back on the field.
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The Browns also had a nearly ten-minute drive in the third quarter that started at their own two-yard line and ended with a touchdown run from Davon Booth to bring the score to 34-13.
To cap things off, Morton would be picked off on a 4th and 2 with a bad throw on a scramble that gave the Browns a brilliant field position and a score to put the nail in the coffin on the game with an Andre Szmyt short field goal from 23 yards out.
Morton played most of the night and finished going 8 for 12 passing, 56 yards, 1 interception, and 18 rushing yards.
We are less than seventy-two hours from the Patriots locking in their 53-man roster for the 2026 season. This game and the uneventfulness of it all for the Patriots' depth players make things even more interesting when it comes to the decision-making process.
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