New England Patriots Crush the Cleveland Browns in Foxborough

The New England Patriots defeated a formidable opponent 45-7 at Gillette Stadium. The Cleveland Browns just recently lost a huge offensive weapon in Odell Beckham Jr., who was released by the team, then signed with the Los Angeles Rams, and this may have been a negative factor for the team. For the entire game, the Browns seemed a bit off, with quarterback Baker Mayfield throwing multiple interceptions before going down with an injury in the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Case Keenum replaced him. After a few plays, Mayfield was seen on the sidelines in uniform, but didn’t end up going back into the game. 

As for the Patriots, they seemed to do everything well. They got many touchdowns on the board, with running back Rhamondre Stevenson, wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, tight end Hunter Henry, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, and others all scoring touchdowns. The Patriots also did a great job playing well despite how many injured players they have on the roster, including running back James White, kick returner and wide receiver Gunner Olszewski, running back Damien Harris, and others. 

During the game, in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter, Browns cornerback Troy Hill was taken off on a backboard and stretcher after injuring his neck. He went to make a tackle on Patriots receiver Jakobi Meyers, but seemed to land awkwardly, and stayed down on the turf. He was soon placed on a backboard, and then a stretcher, and taken off of the field. Hill was taken to a local hospital, where doctors examined him. He was able to move all of his extremities, meaning that he wasn’t paralyzed, and he was later diagnosed with a sprained neck. He was very lucky to avoid serious injury on the scary play!

The NFL and Torn ACLs: An Increase in the Dreaded Injury

The injury that athletes across all sports fear… ACL tears. There’s been a huge increase in this season-ending, usually surgery-requiring injury over the last few seasons among National Football League players. During the 2020 NFL season, in the Week 2 game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets, two players on the 49ers, both playing the same position, tore their ACLs within five minutes of each other! This injury has always been the grim reaper of sports careers and has always been common among NFL players, but the abundance of ACL tears has steadily increased. The most recent one was this week, a rising star for the Washington Football Team, second year defensive end Chase Young. We hear about multiple ACL tears weekly, but why is this injury, along with other ligament sprains and tears of the knee, becoming more and more common? Many factors could be the one to blame, such as the fact that stadiums these days mostly have turf fields instead of grass like they once did, or because of the shortened preseason. There are measures that teams can and should take to attempt to decrease the amount of serious knee injuries in the league, such as giving the players certain injury-preventing exercises to do during workouts. 

Other News From Week 10 in the National Football League

The Detroit Lions finally didn’t lose! No, they didn’t win, either, but they tied 16-16 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf was ejected from the Seahawks’ game versus the Green Bay Packers after getting into a scuffle with multiple Packers players. Later in the game, he tried to sneak into his team’s huddle, but was quickly noticed by the referees and sent back out. 

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, husband of famous singer Ciara, returned to football this week after not playing for multiple weeks due to finger surgery.

Kristina Klauzinski ‘24, Staff Writer

24kklauzinski@montroseschool.org