Dawgs By Nature
Cleveland and New England have played some wild games over the years. Here are 5 memorable ones.
The Cleveland Browns will hit the road in Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season to face the New England Patriots.
The Browns have played the Patriots even in the series, which began in 1971, with both teams experiencing a level of dominance. Cleveland was 11-4 against New England through the 1995 season, but the Patriots have won 10 of 12 against the Browns since 1999, including the past five in a row.
Related: Browns 2025 Schedule Primer: Week 8 New England Patriots
It can be an interesting time when these two teams meet, so let’s take a look at five memorable games between the Browns and the Patriots over the years.
The NFL added overtime to its regular season games in 1974, but it wasn’t until three years later that the Browns played their first overtime game. That occurred on a Monday night against the New England Patriots in Cleveland’s first appearance on Monday Night Football in four years.
The Browns rallied back from a 10-point halftime deficit in the third quarter on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Brian Sipe to Gary Parris and a 37-yard field goal by Don Cockroft to enter the final quarter with the game tied at 17.
The teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter before a 37-yard field goal by Cockroft with 50 seconds remaining looked to give the Browns the win. But New England’s Steve Grogan moved the Patriots down the field, and John Smith’s 34-yard field goal sent the game into overtime.
Cleveland won the toss to start overtime, moved into field goal range, and Cockroft ended the evening with a 35-yard field goal.
This game marked the debut of quarterback Bernie Kosar, who came into the game after starter Gary Danielson injured his shoulder in the second quarter.
The teams traded the lead through the first three quarters, with New England’s only touchdown coming on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Johnny Rembert. The Browns found the end zone twice in the first half, once on a nine-yard run by Earnest Byner, and the other on a 33-yard pass from Brian Brennan to Ozzie Newsome, but trailed by three points heading into the fourth quarter after New England’s Tony Eason hit Stanley Morgan with a 22-yard touchdown pass.
In the final period, the Browns retook the lead on a 10-yard touchdown run from Kevin Mack with four minutes remaining. From there, it was up to the defense to save the day, which they did by twice stopping offensive drives by the Patriots and fourth-and-short, one of which came on the goal line.
Cleveland’s offense rolled up 447 yards, led by Mack’s 200 yards of combined offense and Brennan’s 104 receiving yards.
The final hurrah of the...
