The New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns will clash today in a big game for Week 5 of the NFL 2016 regular season. The Browns will host today's game at the FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland with a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. ET. The game can be watched on TV on the CBS network or online through live stream via the link below.
The Patriots come into today's game having lost their first game of the season last week. Things had looked too good for New England, as they won their opening three games despite not only missing Tom Brady, who was suspended for the opening four games of the season, but also suffering other quarterback injuries and problems.
However, they came crashing back down to earth last week as they were completely locked out by the Buffalo Bills in a 16-0 home loss.
It is extremely rare to see the Patriots so effectively shutdown in offense, but the Bills did their homework and proved too much.
But the Patriots will be ready to just push what happened last week to the back of their minds and re-start again today as Tom Brady makes his return. There's no doubt a team with Tom Brady in and one without is an entirely different prospect for a defense to deal with, and today the Browns are the unlucky team to be put in the firing line for his eagerly awaited return.
The Patriots come into the game on 3-1 where as the lowly Browns are still winless having lost their opening four games to drop to 0-4 and any lingering thoughts of a remarkable recovery to be competitive for the postseason should be put to rest today.
Earlier this week on NFL Thursday Night Football the Arizona Cardinals gained a valuable road win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Both teams entered the clash on 1-3, and both knew that they were facing almost must-win situations to salvage their seasons.
Following a tense first half the teams were level on 7-7, but the second half saw the Cardinals turn the screw and they pulled away to win the encounter 33-21.
The result moved the Cardinals onto a much more respectable 2-3 although they still have a lot more work to do over the coming few weeks to get themselves back into postseason contention. The 49ers meanwhile suffered their fourth defeat of the season in just five weeks and that leaves their season more or less in tatters. It's hard to see how they can turn their season around from here, and already it may be more about re-building for next season than having any realistic chance of making a run for the Playoffs this year.
Arizona managed to claim 17 points from three turnovers by the 49ers in the game, including two interceptions by Blaine Gabbert as well as a a fumble kickoff return by Chris Davis.
49ers coach Chip Kelly said after the game: "I don't think anybody played well on offense. Nobody. I don't think we protected well enough, I don't think we threw it well enough and we had too many drops and two interceptions."
Meanwhile, defensive lineman Calais Campbell said, "We've been saying all week it just starts with one. Just get one win and try to stack them. We've been a team in the past that can rip off a bunch of them. ... Now we have to figure out what we can do to keep that ball rolling."
Week 5 continues today with a big game between the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns, which has a start time of 1 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CBS network or online through live stream by clicking here.
