Tom Brady's return to the lineup in Cleveland went exactly as you'd expect in a 33-13 victory. Here's what we learned:
- Tom Brady (406 yards, three TDs) was locked in from his first throw back from suspension, directing touchdown marches on his first three drives. (The fourth one stalled at the 1-yard line.) He showed a little bit of everything: beautiful deep balls, completions under pressure and a goofy first down celebration on the Browns sideline. It didn't feel like a road game as "Brady" chants echoed in Cleveland.
- Brady's razor sharp return was almost overshadowed by the return of the real Rob Gronkowski. Cleveland's defense had trouble identifying who should cover Gronk and Martellus Bennett on any given snap. While Bennett had the better fantasy day with three touchdowns, Gronkowski (109 yards) was the bigger difference maker with physical catches, rumbling yards after the catch and great blocking. This Patriots' offense will be incredibly hard to match up against with Chris Hogan (114 yards) also making noise on the outside.
- It's a shame Browns quarterback Cody Kessler was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter with injuries to his chest/ribs. He directed a confident first-quarter touchdown drive and was playing heady ball overall in his three starts. Charlie Whitehurst took most of the snaps to replace Kessler, but he was also knocked out of the game late (Whitehurst returned for a kneel down, so perhaps it wasn't serious). Kessler's injury could be the tipping point for this looking like an NFL offense.
- The Browns entered the game with the two leading rushers in yards-per-carry on the season. Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson left the game with 23 yards on 17 combined carries. Patriots second-year player Malcom Brown had the best day of his career with two sacks and great push in the run game.
- Brady's game was encouraging for a lot of reasons, especially his ability to stretch the field. The Patriots were uneven throwing deep last year. On Sunday, Brady completed 4 of 6 passes for 180 yards on throws that traveled more than 20 yards in the air, according to Pro Football Focus.
