After the Browns again were forced to punt in New England territory to begin the second period, the Patriots drove down the field, gambled on fourth down in Browns’ territory and converted, and scored on a two-yard Tom Brady TD pass to cut the Browns’ lead to 10-7, culminating a 79-yard drive.
The Browns got the ball at their 40 after a short kickoff, and Colt McCoy converted a third-down pass to keep the drive alive, once again on New England’s side of the field. McCoy then hit Ben Watson with a 24-yard strike to the Patriots’ 23. Another third down conversion on a pass to Josh Cribbs got the ball to the eleven. And then Chansi Stuckey rushed for an 11-yard score to restore the ten-point lead at 17-7.
New England had enough time for another drive and once again marched down the field, getting to the Browns’ two-yard line before Abram Elam recovered a fumble to end the threat. The Browns ran the clock out to end the first half.
Cleveland holds the edge in yardage, 199-162, as well as in first downs with 11 as opposed to nine for New England. For the Browns, Colt McCoy is 9-14 for 106 yards, and Peyton Hillis has 73 yards on 11 carries, although he has fumbled twice, losing one of them