Krause: Pats pull off another comeback

FOXBOROUGH – This string of sterling comebacks by the New England Patriots will — undoubtedly — end someday,At some point — maybe even this season — they?re going to fall too far behind … and against a team that actually can get through 60 minutes without shooting itself in the foot … and not be able to catch up.It almost looked as if it might happen Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. The Patriots didn?t score a point in the first half and left the field trailing, 6-0. With 2:43 to go in the game, they were behind by 12 (26-14). Their second-best offensive player (Rob Gronkowski) was hurt after a violent … almost grotesque … tackle by Cleveland?s T.J. Ward.Yet … here we are, scratching our heads after another “improbable” comeback against another hapless NFL team — this one 27-26 over the Browns — that comes into Foxborough and forgets how to close out what would otherwise be a satisfying win.For the third straight week, the Patriots have stared defeat in the eye … and defeat has blinked. This one may be the most astounding of them all, though. Because what happened after the Browns went up, 26-14, is certainly one for the ages.First, the Browns became the latest NFL team to forget about one of the game?s oldest clichés … “the prevent defense does nothing except prevent winning.”The Patriots just zipped down the field after that last Cleveland touchdown and scored with ease. They took 11 plays to go 82 yards, with the final one being a two-yard TD pass from Tom Brady to Julian Edelman with 1:04 to go.They got Break No. 1 when the Browns were called for hitting a defenseless receiver, with the 10 yards tacked on to the kickoff.Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming next. And Stephen Gostkowski, who is having easily his best year as a pro, executed it flawlessly.The ball didn?t go the required 10 yards before it struck a Cleveland player (?but it would have, had it not hit him,” Gostkowski said), and Kyle Arrington gathered it in.?I?ve been practicing onside kicks for so long, and I?ve probably only done like four or five (ever), even going back to high school,” Gostkowski said. “You just have to focus on what you?re doing and give your team a chance. It?s a very low percentage play … the ball bounced our way, and it was exciting.”Gostkowski said he?s usually low-key even after long field goals, “but I was jacked up after that. I was all over the place. I probably looked like an idiot.”Call that Break No. 2. However, the Patriots still had to win the game. As if there was any doubt!First, there was a 10-yard pass to Danny Amendola, who quickly went out of bounds. Then, quarterback Tom Brady tried to hook up with seldom-used Josh Boyce in the end zone. It was incomplete, but Cleveland?s Leon McFadden got flagged for pass interference (it didn?t look all that egregious, but his back was turned to the ball, which is almost always called in the NFL).Needless to say, the Browns didn?t see it that way.?I didn?t feel like it was interference,” said McFadden, “but all I can do is go back and look at the film and make corrections.”Coach Rob Chudzinski didn?t think it was interference either.?But,” he said, “the penalty was called. So, at the end of the day, it doesn?t really matter what I think.”That would be Break No. 3. With a first and goal at the one-yard-line, with 35 seconds to go, Brady found Amendola just inside the pylon on the Cleveland side of the field, and the Pats had a 27-26 lead.Break No. 4, if you want to call it that, occurred much earlier in the quarter when the Browns took their final timeout … leaving them with none as they tried from their 20 to get into field goal range with 35 seconds left.They almost did it. But Billy Cundiff?s attempt at a 58-yard field goal fell short, and the Patriots held on.?We practice these situations,” said coach Bill Belichick. “You probably think we should practice the other stuff in normal situations, right?”