New England Patriots: 3 Players that must shine vs. Browns in Week 8

Before the New England Patriots host the Cleveland Browns in Week 8 on Sunday, here are three Patriots players that will have to step up in the game.

Nearing the midway point in the 2019 NFL season, the New England Patriots appear to not be slowing down. After starting the season undefeated while looking to be the early-season favorites to repeat as Super Bowl Champions once again this season, the Patriots will return home and will be favorites once again this week in Week 8 of the regular season schedule.

New England will return back to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Sunday afternoon when it hosts the Cleveland Brown.

The Patriots are coming off of a dominant victory over the New York Jets last Monday in Week 7, a game where the defending champions shut out the Jets 33-0 on the road in New York. New England jumped out to a lead early on and never looked back while looking like the far superior team matchup up against New York, which has struggled to start the 2019 campaign.

The Patriots opened the game by taking a 17-0 lead after the first quarter, holding a commanding 24-0 advantage going into halftime at MetLife Stadium. New England coasted to another victory by outscoring New York 9-0 in the second half to come away with a 33-point win.

The victory pushed New England to a perfect record of 7-0 overall entering Week 8, remaining as one of two undefeated teams remaining the NFL along with the San Francisco 49ers at 6-0. The Patriots currently sit atop the AFC East standings ahead of the Buffalo Bills, Jets and Miami Dolphins once again this year.

On the other side of the field in Week 8, the Browns come into the game after falling for the second straight week in Week 7, dropping a contest at home against the Seattle Seahawks in the Dog Pound.

Cleveland fell in a close contest to Seattle, 32-28, moving it to 2-4 overall on the year entering a matchup against New England this weekend. The Browns sit tied for second place with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North standings, trailing the first-place Baltimore Ravens while remaining ahead of the winless Cincinnati Bengals at the bottom of the division.

Before the Browns come to Foxborough to face the Patriots in Week 8, let’s take a look into three players that will have to step up and shine for New England in order for it to improve to 8-0 on the year entering the midway point in the season.