Tom Brady is back for the New England Patriots. The Cleveland Browns better watch out.
The Patriots opened the week as 10.5-point favorites over Cleveland, and it's easy to see the game becoming even more lopsided than that. After serving a four-game suspension for DeflateGate, Brady has probably been waiting to embark on a revenge tour against the league this season.
That's bad news for a lackluster Browns secondary. Brady has played some of the best football of his career in recent seasons, posting a QB rating of 99.9 over the last two years.
The 3-1 Patriots should pick up their high-tempo, prolific passing attack with Brady back, which they've abandoned the last couple of weeks while rookie Jacoby Brissett has started games at quarterback in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. One of the big areas of curiosity facing the Patriots this week is Rob Gronkowski, who's been held to only one catch through his first two games of the season. He suffered a hamstring injury during training camp and is admittedly hampered by it.
If the Browns are going to compete in this game, newfound No. 1 wide receiver Terrelle Pryor will have to make some big plays. That could be possible against a Patriots team that ranks in the bottom half of the league in pass defense.
But standing in the way of sustainable offensive success for the Browns is rookie Cody Kessler. Bill Belichick typically feasts on first-year quarterbacks, and Kessler will likely be no different.
Unsurprisingly, none of the experts are picking the Browns to earn their first win of the season. The ESPN and CBS Sports panels are all-in on the Patriots improving to 4-1 in Brady's 2016 debut.
All 10 of our experts at SB Nation agree:
| Game | RVB | Stephen White | Thomas George | Jeanna Thomas | Adam Stites | Tyler Tynes | Louis Bien | Joel Thorman | Fooch | OddsShark computer |
| NE vs CLE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE |