FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
In a game in which their offense was held to just 217 yards and their defense surrendered 45 unanswered points, there was little that went right for the Cleveland Browns vs. the New England Patriots on Sunday. And according to the Browns' best player, there was at least one reason for what was arguably their worst performance of the 2021 season.
"We've gotta go back to the drawing board and see how we can get better, see how we can scheme better, see how we can make adjustments on the fly," All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett said following the Browns' 45-7 loss to the Patriots. "We never had a chance just because we didn't make any adjustments on the sideline or when we had time to."
Garrett's comments follow a game in which the Browns scored on their first drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead, only to allow New England to score 45 straight points.
Of those 45 points, 38 were scored on drives that were engineered by Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones, with veteran backup Brian Hoyer throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers with 4:13 remaining in the game -- a drive that Cleveland's defensive starters were still playing on.
With the loss, the Browns fell to 5-5 on the season and now sit in last place of the AFC North. It's worth noting, however, that no other team in Cleveland's division won this weekend, with the Baltimore Ravens losing to the Miami Dolphins, the Pittsburgh Steelers tying the Detroit Lions and the Cincinnati Bengals being on a bye week.
Yet despite being alive in both the AFC North and the AFC Wild Card races, it's clear from Sunday's showing -- and Garrett's comments -- that the Browns have work to do if they're going to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
"We didn't counter like we were supposed to," Garrett said. "We didn't stop the bleeding and they kept on attacking."