Sunday, October 03, 1999NEXT: at CLEVELAND (0-4)
Bengals fans: Browns winless also
The Associated PressCLEVELAND — Terry Glenn wasn't perfect, and once again neither were the New England Patriots, the NFL's most unimpressive unbeaten team.
Glenn overcame two costly first-half fumbles with a club-record 13 receptions for 214 yards and a touchdown Sunday as the Patriots won their fourth straight, 19-7 over the Cleveland Browns.
“I just got off to a bad start,” said Glenn, who played at Ohio State and had about 50 family and friends at the game. “I was a little anxious and trying to do too much.”
Glenn redeemed himself on the first play of the fourth quarter, turning a short pass from Glenn into a 54-yard TD as New England (4-0) finally pulled away from the expansion Browns (0-4).
“We'll take 4-0,” Bledsoe said. “We hurt ourselves. But Terry came back and had a great game. But he needs to hold on to the football. Two turnovers in the red zone made it a much harder game than it had to be.”
Cleveland, which scored its first points at home and led 7-0, stayed in the game for all 60 minutes for the second straight week. But the Browns, the league's least penalized team entering Week 4, hurt themselves with costly penalties, including a questionable defensive holding call in the fourth quar ter that nullified a TD interception return.
Roy Barker was whistled for holding on tight end Ben Coates, negating a 35-yard TD return by Marquez Pope that would have brought the Browns within six.
“They're (the NFL) probably going to send us a letter on Monday saying they're sorry, but it won't matter,” cornerback Corey Fuller said.
Bledsoe completed 28-of-42 passes for 389 yards for the Patriots, who won their first three games by a combined sev en points. Adam Vinatieri kicked two field goals for New England.
Browns rookie quarterback Tim Couch was 12-of-27 for 195 yards one TD. But New England blitzes forced him to hurry passes or overthrow receivers in the second half as Cleveland picked up only 85 yards after halftime.
“We just didn't execute,” Couch said. “We had ourselves down in scoring position, and hurt ourselves with some penalties. They got some key turnovers. I think the killer was when Marquez ran the interception back and it got called back.”
The Patriots rolled up 434 yards in total offense, but had to overcome a 7-6 halftime deficit after Glenn's two turnovers in the first half sabotaged potential scoring drives.
New England, which hasn't been 5-0 since 1974, took the second half kickoff and drove 80 yards in 12 plays to take a 13-7 lead when Terry Allen scored on a 3-yard sweep.
Couch drove Cleveland inside the New England 30, but Browns guard Jim Pyne was called for a personal foul on a key third-down scramble by Couch. Instead of being in field-goal range, the Browns were forced to punt.
The Browns played their best 30 minutes of the season in the first half, forcing two turnovers and getting big plays on defense to take a 7-6 halftime lead.
Cleveland, which has scored just 24 points in four games, missed a scoring chance earlier in the first quarter when Phil Dawson missed a 38-yard field goal. “These are the games that hurt,” said Cleveland coach Chris Palmer, a four-year assistant with New England. “But I am proud of our team.”
New England ....... 0 6 7 6—19
Cleveland ....... 7 0 0 0— 7
First Quarter
Cle—Johnson 64 pass from Couch (Dawson kick), 4:31.
Second Quarter
NE—FG Vinatieri 22, 10:21.
NE—FG Vinatieri 21, :26.
Third Quarter
NE—Allen 3 run (Vinatieri kick), 9:23.
Fourth Quarter
NE—Glenn 54 pass from Bledsoe (pass failed), 14:51.
A—72,368.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—New England, Allen 21-68, Warren 7-12, Floyd 2-7, Carter 1-4, Bledsoe 3-(minus 1). Cleveland, Kirby 17-65, Couch 2-8, Jones 1-2, Powell 1-(minus 14)
PASSING—New England, Bledsoe 28-42-0-389. Cleveland, Couch 12-27-0-195.
RECEIVING—New England, Glenn 13-214, Brown 4-59, Simmons 4-29, Brisby 2-27, Jefferson 1-32, Floyd 1-11, Warren 1-8, Allen 1-5, Carter 1-4. Cleveland, Johnson 6-131, Kirby 3-33, Chiaverini 2-23, Shepherd 1-8.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—New England, Vinatieri 42 (WR). Cleveland, Dawson 38 (WR).
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