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  Sunday, Oct. 3 1:00pm ET
Glenn sparks unbeaten Patriots past Browns
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Terry Glenn wasn't perfect, and once again neither were the New England Patriots, the NFL's most unimpressive unbeaten team.

Glenn overcame two costly first-half fumbles with a club-record 13 receptions for 214 yards and a touchdown Sunday as the Patriots won their fourth straight, 19-7 over the Cleveland Browns.

Terry Allen
New England tailback Terry Allen runs away from Browns linebacker Wali Rainier.

"I just got off to a bad start," said Glenn, who played at Ohio State and had about 50 family and friends at the game. "I was a little anxious and trying to do too much."

Glenn redeemed himself on the first play of the fourth quarter, turning a short pass from Glenn into a 54-yard TD as New England (4-0) finally pulled away from the expansion Browns (0-4).

"We'll take 4-0," Bledsoe said. "We hurt ourselves. But Terry came back and had a great game. But he needs to hold on to the football. Two turnovers in the red zone made it a much harder game than it had to be."

Cleveland, which scored its first points at home and led 7-0, stayed in the game for all 60 minutes for the second straight week. But the Browns, the league's least penalized team entering Week 4, hurt themselves with costly penalties, including a questionable defensive holding call in the fourth quarter that nullified a TD interception return.

Roy Barker was whistled for holding on tight end Ben Coates, negating a 35-yard TD return by Marquez Pope that would have brought the Browns within six.

"They're (the NFL) probably going to send us a letter on Monday saying they're sorry, but it won't matter," cornerback Corey Fuller said.

Bledsoe completed 28 of 42 passes for 389 yards for the Patriots, who won their first three games by a combined seven points. Adam Vinatieri kicked two field goals for New England.

Browns rookie quarterback Tim Couch was 12 of 27 for 195 yards one TD. But New England blitzes forced him to hurry passes or overthrow receivers in the second half as Cleveland picked up only 85 yards after halftime.

"We just didn't execute," Couch said. "We had ourselves down in scoring position, and hurt ourselves with some penalties. They got some key turnovers. I think the killer was when Marquez ran the interception back and it got called back."

GAME NOTES
Terry Glenn broke the club record of 12 set by Ben Coates on Nov. 27, 1994, vs. Indianapolis.
Ryan McNeil recovered both fumbles by Glenn.
Patriots offensive tackle Bruce Armstrong surpassed Hall of Famer John Hannah for the most starts in club history with 184.
New England cornerback Ty Law jammed his neck in the first quarter, but returned.
New England lost its last previous visit to Cleveland, dropping a playoff game in 1995. The Browns lead the series 10-5.
Tim Couch and Kevin Johnson are the first pair of rookies in the 1990s to hook up for TDs three weeks in a row.

The Patriots rolled up 434 yards in total offense, but had to overcome a 7-6 halftime deficit after Glenn's two turnovers in the first half sabotaged potential scoring drives.

New England, which hasn't been 5-0 since 1974, took the second half kickoff and drove 80 yards in 12 plays to take a 13-7 lead when Terry Allen scored on a 3-yard sweep.

Couch drove Cleveland inside the New England 30, but Browns guard Jim Pyne was called for a personal foul on a key third-down scramble by Couch. Instead of being in field-goal range, the Browns were forced to punt.

"I did not hear the whistle," Pyne said. "The play was still going on, people were falling down. I was just trying to protect my quarterback. I hit a guy. I was just playing football."

After a 15-yard completion to Glenn, Bledsoe rolled right and found his wideout over the middle. Glenn, who had 11 catches in the first half, spun out of one tackle and outran cornerback Corey Fuller for the score.

New England coach Pete Carroll said he had a few words for Glenn after the wide receiver fumbled for the second time.

"I said something to him," Carroll said. "But there isn't a whole lot to say that he doesn't know. After the first one, I couldn't imagine the second one. But he came back and had a monster game."

The Browns played their best 30 minutes of the season in the first half, forcing two turnovers and getting big plays on defense to take a 7-6 halftime lead.

Vinatieri's second field goal of the half with 26 seconds left brought the Patriots within a point.

After being shut out 43-0 in their home opener against Pittsburgh, Cleveland took its first lead of the season with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter when Couch and fellow rookie Kevin Johnson hooked up for their third TD pass this season.

Cleveland, which has scored just 24 points in four games, missed a scoring chance earlier in the first quarter when Phil Dawson missed a 38-yard field goal.

"These are the games that hurt," said Cleveland coach Chris Palmer, a four-year assistant with New England. "But I am proud of our team. New England is obviously a playoff team and our guys were hanging in there."
 


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