Mike Vrabel’s Brutally Honest Assessment Of Patriots’ Win Vs. Browns

The New England Patriots picked up a 32-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns in Week 8, pushing their record to 6-2 on the season. While the Patriots eventually pulled away from the Browns, it took them a while to get going, which led to a blunt admission from head coach Mike Vrabel.

While the Patriots have largely beaten the brakes off of a group of inferior opponents (aside from the Buffalo Bills) during their ongoing five-game win streak, one of the more concerning trends throughout the season has been the team’s inability to come out of the gates hot.

Against Cleveland, New England settled for three field goals in the first half, and while they carried a 9-7 lead into halftime, it wasn’t exactly a dominant performance. Against a better team, chances are the Pats would have been in trouble.

Eventually, the Patriots have managed to figure things out, but getting off to faster starts is going to be key moving forward. While Vrabel admitted that he knew New England was eventually going to get the better of Cleveland, he implored his team to focus on putting together more complete performances moving forward.

“I knew the game was gonna go a certain way when we got the stop and we got the score at the end of half,” Vrabel said during his speech in the locker room after the game. “We just have to do that s*** sooner. We’re not changing, but we’re moving on.”

Simply put, the Browns did not have enough firepower on offense to give the Patriots a run for their money, even though their defense did a good job of pressuring Drake Maye throughout the day. Not every team is as bad as Cleveland, though, and Vrabel knows tougher challenges lie ahead.

One of those challenges is on the schedule in Week 9, as New England will draw a matchup at home against the Atlanta Falcons, who are perhaps the most confusing team in the entire league. The goal remains the same, though, as the Patriots will look to earn their sixth-straight victory when they suit up for this game.