New England vs Cleveland: Bill Belichick’s Patriots to extend winning streak

The New England Patriots have won four of their last five games and are in a serious race to win the AFC East. The next opponent for Bill Belichick's team is the Cleveland Browns. Will the Pats manage to achieve another success? Let's pick a few options to bet on.

Last season really tarnished Bill Belichick's reputation for failing to make the playoffs without Tom Brady, while the quarterback led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory. This championship, however, shows that the Pats simply bet on the wrong guy, choosing to replace Brady with Cam Newton, a playmaker of a very different type. Mac Jones, on the other hand, who is the starting quarterback for the Patriots, was a much better fit for the 2021 championship. So much so that even with a first-round pick, and Jones was selected by the Boston franchise in the last draft, at the leading offensive player position, the Patriots are a serious contender for the playoffs. What's more, with a 5-4 balance, New England, though behind Buffalo in the division, is right now in the wild-card zone.

Last week, the Patriots beat Carolina on the road. 24-6, as Boston once again showed that they still have arguably the best defense in the NFL, not allowing a single touchdown to Sam Darnold and Christian McCaffrey.

Last season ended very well for the Browns, as the Ohio team managed to make the playoffs for the first time in years. But instead of capitalizing on that result by making progress in the new season, Cleveland ended up going to an inner brawl. The result is wide receiver Odell Beckham, who was placed on the draft board and had already signed with the Los Angeles Rams, leaving Kevin Stefanski's team. The Browns created problems for themselves.

By Week 10, Cleveland is last in the AFC North division. But the density in the quartet is such that by winning one game, the Browns can immediately soar to No. 1. Given what's going on inside the team, it seems that only the instability of their division rivals can help Cleveland make the playoffs.

The last time the rivals met each other was in the 2019 regular season. In Foxborough, New England was stronger 27-13.

With each game, the New England Patriots look more and more like themselves from at least three years ago, when the team won the last Super Bowl so far. Mac Jones is a perfect fit in Bill Belichick's system, so the offense seems to be fine. And the Pats didn't have much of a problem on defense.

Cleveland will have a very difficult time against Boston's top defense. Although the Browns finally improved on offense in their previous game, outscoring Cincinnati 41-16, you still can't trust Baker Mayfield. Prior to facing the Bengals, Cleveland had failed to surpass even the 17-point mark three games in a row. It wasn’t just Odell Beckham who was the problem, it seems.

Prediction: New England will win.

• Handicap New England (-1.5) for 1.64;
• Cleveland Total Under (21.5) for 1.90;
• Total Under (39.5) for 2.75.