Patriots-Browns Week 6 news, notes, and fun facts
FOXBORO -- After their 1-3 start to the season, the Patriots can get back to .500 with a win over the Browns in Cleveland this weekend. It would also be a pretty special win for head coach Bill Belichick.
Belichick is going for the 324th overall victory of his career as a head coach, which would tie him with the great George Halas for the second-most all-time behind only Don Shula's 347 career wins. Of course, 286 of those victories (256 in the regular season and 30 more in the playoffs) have come during Belichick's time with the Patriots, but he did earn 36 wins over his five-year stint as head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Beating his old team for a milestone win would make for a pretty special Sunday afternoon for Bill Belichick. But that's just one of the many news, notes, and fun facts that you should know heading into the Week 6 tilt.
Week 6 Notes
- Sunday will be the 26th regular season meeting between the two franchises, with the Patriots owning a 13-12 edge. Cleveland took the only playoff matchup between the two teams, when the Belichick-led Browns beat the Patriots, 20-13, in the 1995 Wild Card round in Cleveland. It was Belichick's only playoff win during his time with the Browns.
- The Patriots have won their last four games against the Browns and eight of their last 10. New England won the last matchup, 45-7, at Gillette Stadium last season.
- The Patriots are 8-5 all-time against the Browns in games played in Foxboro, but are just 5-7 in the regular season trips to Cleveland. New England is 3-2 at FirstEnergy Stadium.
- Bill Belichick is 8-2 in his career against Cleveland.
- After shutting out the No. 1 scoring offense in last week's 29-0 win over the Lions, the Patriots will now face a Browns offense that ranks fourth in the NFL at 369.4 yards per game and sixth at 26.6 points per game.
- Cleveland possesses the NFL's top rushing attack, averaging 192.4 yards on the ground per game this season.
- The Browns' defense has given up an average of 138.2 yards per game, which ranks 28th in the NFL.
Player Notes
- Matthew Judon has six sacks on the season and is tied for the NFL lead with San Francisco's Nick Bosa and Dallas' Micah Parsons. Judon is the only player with a sack in each of the first five games of the 2022 season.
- If Judon gets another sack this Sunday, he'll set a new Patriots record for the most sacks through six games, surpassing the previous record of 6.5 set by Andre Tippett (1984), Chandler Jones (2015), and Judon himself (2021).
- After rushing for a career-best 161 yards against Detroit last weekend, Rhamondre Stevenson will look to become the first New England running back with back-to-back games of at least 140 rushing yards since Curtis Martin did so in 1995.
- Jack Jones has picked off a pass in each of the last two games, and can become the first Patriots rookie with three straight games with an interception since Devin McCourty did so in 2010. Mike Haynes holds the team record with four straight games with an interception during his rookie season with the Patriots in 1976.
- When Matthew Slater takes the field on Sunday, the Patriots captain will tie Bruce Armstrong for the second-most games played in Patriots history at 212 games. Tom Brady owns the record at 285 games played.
Connections
- Belichick coached the Browns from 1991-95, accumulating a 36-44 record in the regular season and a 1-1 record in the playoffs. His lone playoff berth in Cleveland came after an 11-5 season in 1994, and the Wild Card win over the Patriots is the last time that the Browns won a playoff game.
- Former Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who was drafted by the team in 2016 and started two games as a rookie in place of the suspended Tom Brady and injured Jimmy Garoppolo, is now Cleveland's starting QB in place of the suspended DeShaun Watson. Brissett has completed 62 percent of his passes and thrown five touchdowns while rushing for another score this season.
- Cleveland passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Chad O'Shea was New England's wide receivers coach from 2009-18, winning three Super Bowls with the team.
- Current Patriots Carl Davis Jr., Daniel Ekuale, Brian Hoyer, Jabrill Peppers, and Mack Wilson all spent time in Cleveland.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Browns clash on WBZ-TV -- the television home of the New England Patriots. Coverage begins Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. on TV38 with Patriots 1st Down, and continues Friday night at 7 p.m. on WBZ-TV with Patriots All Access. Sunday's coverage kicks off at 11:30 a.m. on WBZ-TV with Patriots GameDay, followed by Pats-Browns at 1 p.m. We wrap it all up on TV38 after the game with Patriots 5th Quarter!
