The theme of today's coverage of the New England Patriots 34-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns is nearly unanimous: the Pats didn't play their best, but it was still more than good enough to win.
"When you give Tom Brady good field position, he's going to hurt you," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said in a post-game interview. "Sometimes, when you give him bad field position, he's going to hurt you."
A column in today's Providence Journal looks at how Crennel and the Browns had to pick their poison in surrendering to New England Sunday.
Some coverage in the Browns' hometown took solace in the fact that the Pats' 17-point margin was the closest any NFL team has come to beating New England this season.
"They're the kind of team that you can do a bunch of things right against and one thing wrong, and they make you pay," Browns RB Jason Wright told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"They have a phenomenal team," said WR Braylon Edwards, who had 110 receiving yards on six catches. "They don't make mistakes, and they capitalize on your mistakes. But they're not unbeatable. We gave them three scores. Take those off the board, and who knows what happens."
And of course, the game signaled the return of suspended New England S Rodney Harrison, the subject of a feature in today's Boston Herald.
"They've been very supportive of me since I've gotten there, through so many different situations, injuries, free agency . . . it's just tremendous to feel that type of support," Harrison said in the Pats locker room just moments after the game.
"I've always tried to play hard. I've always tried to make plays out on the field to bring this team to victory. Just have to keep going."
The Pats have been so good so far this season, they are even attracting attention north of the border, where The Canadian Press has a story on 5-0 New England this morning.
Their feature focuses on LB Junior Seau's impromptu celebration during his second interception Sunday.
"It was a fun time and, obviously, I'm going to get reprimanded," Seau admitted with a smile afterwards. And he almost lateralled the ball to a teammate during his return
"Coach [Belichick] wouldn't have liked that either," he said. "So I didn't want to have two whammies in one play."
QUICK HITS
A Boston Globe column proclaims that "these are the good old days" for New England Patriots fans.
A capsule of the key moments of the game in today's Hartford Courant.
A comparison of New England's offense to that of ... the Colts? ... in today's Boston Herald.
More coverage from the opposing sideline in the Akron Beacon Journal.
