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CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Just the sight of Bill Belichick made the Cleveland Browns explode ... offensively. Phil Dawson booted four field goals as the Browns scored more points in one game than they had in the previous four contests combined en route to a 19-11 victory over the New England Patriots. With Belichick returning to the city in which he coached for five relatively disappointing seasons, the Browns were ready for their former leader and took out the frustrations of a seven-game losing streak on him. "It was a game today that we did not play well and we did not take advantage of our opportunities," Belichick said. "I was disappointed in our overall execution today. We did not play the type of football game that we needed to play against a team like Cleveland who is sound." In winning for the first time since Week Three, Cleveland (3-8) surpassed its win total from last season and the 19 points represented its highest total since a 29-21 loss at Arizona on October 8. "I thought it was a hard-fought game between two evenly matched teams," said Browns coach Chris Palmer. "I thought we did some things good and our guys played hard." The Browns had totaled a combined 16 points in the last four games, including being shutout at Pittsburgh on October 22 and scoring just three points in back-to-back home losses against Cincinnati and the New York Giants. New England (2-8) has now dropped four straight and it was a bitter return to this city for Belichek, who compiled a 37-45 record with one trip to the playoffs in his five years with the Browns. Dawson booted field goals of 39, 43, 35 and 35 yards as the Browns built a 19-3 lead 2 1/2 minutes into the final quarter. The Patriots made a game of it, however, fighting with eight points with 5:38 to play as Drew Bledsoe, who started despite a right thumb injury, hit tight end Rod Rutledge for a two-yard touchdown and Kevin Faulk ran for the two-point conversion. New England proceeded to stop Cleveland and got the ball back on its own 37-yard line with 3:49 remaining, needing another touchdown and conversion to tie it. On the first play, Bledsoe hit Faulk for a seven-yard gain to the 44. But an incompletion followed and Bledose was sacked for a big loss by linebacker Lenoy Jones and defensive end Stalin Colinet. Following a punt, Travis Prentice carried on seven consecutive plays for 43 yards as the Browns put the game away. Prentice finished with 84 yards on 19 carries and Doug Pederson completed 20-of-37 passes for 138 yards with a nine-yard third-quarter touchdown to tight end Aaron Shea that gave the Browns a 10-3 advantage. "The defense gave us the ball a lot today," Palmer added. "We got in the end zone and that was very gratifying. I want to give credit to the offensive line. They kept us on the field and we ran the ball well." Bledsoe, who injured his thumb during the first half of last week's loss to Buffalo when he banged his hand on the helmet of a pass rusher, was 21-of-35 for 212 yards and was sacked four times and committed three costly turnovers. "I'm not 100 percent," said Bledsoe. "I can't grip the ball as I normally would. I threw in the locker room before the game and felt OK. I was throwing the ball about 15 to 20 yards. It's a frustrating thing. We are making mistakes across the board and we have not been good enough to overcome them." Adam Vinatieri kicked a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter for the Patriots, who outgained the Browns, 286-272, but committed four turnovers which directly led to 13 Cleveland points. "Mistakes hurt us," added Belichick. "We have to play better on third down situations and not turn the ball over. Turnovers were the turning point, but we had a lot of missed tackles also. Execution and not effort is the problem. We just gave them good field position, which led to field goals." Defensive tackle Darius Holland's interception of Bledsoe set up New England's only touchdown and two fumbles by Bledsoe, recovered by Colinet and defensive tackle Marcus Spriggs, respectively, set the stage for two of Dawson's field goals. The Browns lead the all-time series, 12-5.
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