The New England Patriots will be aiming for their first winning streak of the 2022 NFL season when they play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Patriots demolished the Detroit Lions 29-0 at home in Week 5 in a game that saw New England dominate in all three phases. Bill Belichick's defense not only shut out the league's highest-scoring offense (entering last week), it stopped the Lions on six fourth down plays, which set a new record.
New England's offense also impressed, particularly the rushing attack, led by Rhamondre Stevenson's career-high 161 yards. The second-year running back should get plenty of work in Week 6 versus a Browns defense allowing the third-most yards per carry (5.3).
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We still don't know who will start at quarterback for the Patriots. Mac Jones is questionable with an ankle injury but he didn't play the last two games. Rookie Bailey Zappe started against the Lions and played quite well. He completed 17-of-21 pass attempts for 188 yards with one touchdown and an interception that wasn't his fault.
The Patriots are capable of beating the Browns regardless of who starts at quarterback, and judging by this week's predictions roundup, many experts around the league seem to agree.
New England Patriots
Tom E. Curran, NBC Sports Boston: 23-16 Browns
Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk: 24-20 Patriots
Albert Breer, Sports Illustrated: Patriots
Bill Bender, Sporting News: 26-22 Browns
Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com: 24-23 Patriots
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: 27-26 Patriots
Bleacher Report NFL Staff: 28-26 Patriots
Jeremy Fowler, ESPN: Browns
Dan Graziano, ESPN: Patriots
David Hill, New York Times: Patriots +3
Sheil Kapadia, The Ringer: Patriots +2.5
FiveThirtyEight's model: Browns have 54 percent chance to win