3 stats that proved Patriots’ dominance in victory over Browns

2. Patriots rushing attack: 34 rushes, 184 yards, 5.4 YPC

What else is new? The Patriots shredding opponents on the ground is simply what they do. However, this effort against a stout Cleveland front seven was achieved without starter Damien Harris leading the way.

Rookie Rhamondre Stevenson recorded his first career 100-yard game on 20 rushes and refused to go down. He powered his way in between the tackles and turned in the jets when he got to the outside. If not for his effort when the Patriots were on their own one-yard line early in the game, the offense doesn’t march 99 yards down the field to score a touchdown and suck the life out of Cleveland.

Then came the creativity. Josh McDaniels dialed up a few end-arounds and double-reverses to Kendrick Bourne, who notched three carries for 43 yards. Looks like he’s out of Belichick’s dog house!

More importantly, however, the run game is how the Patriots controlled the pace of the game. They held the ball for 34:02 compared to the Browns’ 25:58 mark (and Cleveland controlled it for almost nine minutes in a feckless fourth quarter, when they had no chance of coming back).

Oh yeah, and take out Brian Hoyer’s two kneels at the end of the game, and it’s 32 rushes for 186 yards, good for a 5.8 average.