The New England Patriots shook off a slow start and crushed the Cleveland Browns, 32-13, in Week 8 of the NFL season. Drake Maye had another MVP-like performance with three touchdown passes, while the New England defense locked down and forced two Cleveland turnovers --and a late-game safety -- to lead the Patriots to a fifth straight win. 

The Patriots let the Browns score a touchdown on their first possession and found themselves in a defensive battle for much of the first half. But Maye and the offense broke out for three straight touchdown drives out of halftime, thanks to a pair of turnovers forced by the defense.

"Sometimes it's going to be like that. A lot of times it's going to be like that," head coach Mike Vrabel said of the close nature of the game in the first half. "We got stops in the second half and scored touchdowns. That was the difference in the game."

Maye was excellent again for New England as he completed 18 of his 24 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. He did throw an interception -- his first since Week 3 -- but the quarterback threw touchdown passes to Hunter Henry (seven yards), Stefon Diggs (one yard), and Kayshon Boutte (39 yards) to finish off three straight scoring drives to start the second half. 

His only foil was Myles Garrett, who sacked Maye five times on Sunday to set a single-game record for the Browns. Overall, Cleveland sacked Maye six times on Sunday.

"This is that league," Maye said of the Patriots having to overcome some adversity Sunday. "One of the best players on the edge, maybe one of the best players in the league on the edge. So just battling back and continuing to run it in play action and boot and just trying to keep the defense off its -- trying to be unpredictable on offense. I think Coach called a great game. Good to handle adversity and come out of halftime, and to score three touchdowns in the third quarter was big."

In addition to Maye's big afternoon through the air, the Patriots were also able to run for 179 yards on the ground against Cleveland's top defense. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson broke out with 75 rushing yards on his 10 carries, while Maye added 53 yards on four scrambles and Rhamondre Stevenson picked up 34 yards on his 14 carries.

Mack Hollins was Maye's favorite receiver in Week 8 with seven receptions for 89 yards. Boutte had three receptions for 75 yards, while Diggs had 14 yards on his three receptions.

The Patriots are now 6-2 on the season and remain in first place in the AFC East. Here's how it all played out in Foxboro on Sunday:

Another slow start for the Patriots

The Patriots ran all over the Browns defense on their first possession, but had to settle for a field goal. TreVeyon Henderson broke off runs of 12 and 18 yards, and Maye had a 16-yard scramble as well, but the team came up short when they got to the Cleveland 4. 

Stevenson was stuffed for a four-yard loss on first-and-goal, and Maye threw behind Stefon Diggs in a crowd on second-and-goal. On third down, Myles Garrett broke through a chip from Hunter Henry and beat rookie left tackle Will Campbell to sack Maye -- giving him 108.5 sacks for his career -- the most ever for a player under the age of 30 and besting the previous record by Hall of Famer Reggie White.

The Browns answered quickly with a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. Dillon Gabriel hit tight end Harold Fannin Jr. for 19 yards and a fresh set of downs on a third-and-11, and a few plays later Malachi Corley made Robert Spillane and Marcus Jones miss tackles on a 31-yard run to the New England 18.

That busted coverage was costly for the Patriots, and they blew another as Gabriel finished off the drive by finding a huge hole in New England's zone defense and floated an 18-yard touchdown to Fannin, putting Cleveland on top 7-3. 

New England's opponents have now scored on six of their eight opening drives this season. 

The New England offense followed the Cleveland's touchdown drive by going three-and-out. Stevenson picked up nine yards on his first- and second-down carries, but was stuffed on third-and-1 when Shelby Harris shoved away center Garrett Bradbury and stuffed the running back for a one-yard loss.

At least the New England defense buckled down and forced a three-and-out of their own on Cleveland's next possession. But the offense gave the ball right back.

Drake Maye throws first interception since Week 3

The Patriots were moving the ball until Henry missed a block on Alex Wright and the defensive end sacked Maye to set up a third-and-9. Maye was under pressure again on third down and forced a pass over the middle of the field, where rookie Carson Schwesinger was spying the quarterback and came down with his first career interception. It gave Cleveland the ball at the New England 34.

It was the first time Maye completed a pass to the opposing defense since New England's Week 3 loss to the Steelers. The Browns didn't do anything with the free possession though, as kicker Andre Szmyt missed his 47-yard field goal attempt to keep it a 7-3 ballgame.

Maye sacked again, Patriots pull closer with another field goal

The Patriots' offense got to the Cleveland 11 on its next possession thanks to two big passes by Maye: A 31-yard completion to Hooper on a seam down the middle, and a 21-yard connection to Mack Hollins on a play-action pass down the right sideline. 

But Henderson was stuff on first-and-10 from the Cleveland 11 and lost two yards, and Maye was sacked by Garrett again on third-and-6 to end the scoring threat. Borregales put a 34-yard field goal through the uprights to cut Cleveland's lead to 7-6 with 7:41 remaining in the first half. 

Patriots take lead with field goal before halftime

It looked like the Patriots would find the end zone just ahead of halftime after Maye hit a wide open DeMario Douglas on a third-down scramble drill for 44 yards. 

It set the Pats up at the Cleveland 32, but they went backwards when Maye was strip-sacked by Garrett (Jared Wilson recovered the fumble) and Henry was hit with a false start on third-and-18.

But Maye hit Boutte for 21 yards on the ensuing third-and-23, and Borregales hit a 42-yard field goal as time expired to give the Patriots a 9-7 lead as they went into the locker room. 

Maye was 10-for-16 in the first half for 168 yards, but was picked off and sacked four times by the Cleveland defense. Garrett pressured him six times in the first half, which resulted in three sacks, Maye's pick, and the QB's fumble. 

Patriots use double pass on touchdown drive out of halftime

After the defensive forced the three-and-out, the Patriots finally found the end zone. They used some trickeration to get there.

Henderson broke off a big 27-yard tun to set the Patriots up at the Cleveland 38, and was followed by Maye hitting Hollins for 19 yards off a double-pass play.

Three plays later, Maye hit Henry for an easy seven-yard touchdown to put New England on top, 16-7. It was Henry's fourth touchdown catch of the year, and came on National Tight Ends Day. 

The Cleveland defense bit hard on Diggs, who was in motion on the play, which left Henry wide open for the score.

It was a great sequence for Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who hit the Cleveland defense with a little bit of everything on the seven-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. 

Spillane picks off Gabriel, sets up Diggs' first touchdown with Patriots

The Browns were heading toward another three-and-out, but Spillane ended the drive early with his second interception of the season on a bad pass by Gabriel over the middle. The linebacker returned it 32 yards to the Cleveland 6.

Maye was sacked by Garrett for the fourth time on New England's first play after Spillane's pick, before he hit Diggs for eight yards on second-and-goal to set the Patriots up at the Cleveland 1-yard line.

On third-and-goal, Maye threw a quick, short pass to Diggs for the receiver's first touchdown as a member of the Patriots. 

It looked like the entire offense was in the end zone to celebrate Diggs' score. And with that, the rout was on in New England as the Patriots took a 23-7 lead.

Jaylin Hawkins picks off Gabriel with one hand

Gabriel hadn't thrown a pick until Sunday. He had two straight drives end with an interception in Week 8. 

The Browns picked up a first down after Finnin had a two-yard run on a fourth-and-1, but then Gabriel heaved it downfield and was picked off by safety Jaylinn Hawkins at the New England 18. It was a beautiful pick by Hawkins, who snagged the ball out of the air with one hand.

It was Hawkins' second interception of the season and first since Week 1. It set up another Patriots touchdown.

Maye hits Boutte for 39-yard touchdown

Drake Maye. Kayshon Boutte. Six points.

The lovely touchdown pass by Maye put the Patriots up 30-7 with less than a minute left in the third. Maye also scrambled for 28 yards (safely) on the drive, and was serenaded with MVP chants after his TD strike to Boutte. 

Boutte is now up to five touchdown receptions this season. 

Browns score after short punt by Baringer

Bryce Baringer has been pretty good this season, but the Patriots punter shanked a 15-yard punt in the fourth quarter that set Cleveland up at the New England 26-yard line. A few plays later, Gabriel hit tight end David Njoku for an 11-yard touchdown over rookie safety Craig Woodson. 

But the Browns only got six points because Marcus Jones blanketed Fannin on his corner route and broke up Cleveland's two-point pass in the end zone. 

Henderson fumbles, Patriots D gets a safety

Henderson had a real solid day overall, but fumbled the football as he tried to get into the end zone late in the fourth quarter. He held the ball too high and had it knocked out of his grasp, and the Cleveland defense pounced on it at their own 1-yard line with just under five minutes left in the game.

The Patriots got points a few plays later anyways, as Gabriel was flagged for intentional grounding as he threw the ball away to no one while in the end zone. The Browns were able to recover the ensuing onside kick at their own 33, but then turned it over on downs and the Patriots killed the final 3:18 of the game. 

What's next for the Patriots?

New England will play a second straight home game in Week 9 when the Pats welcome the Atlanta Falcons to Gillette Stadium. 

The Falcons are 3-4 on the season after losing to the Miami Dolphins, 34-10, in Atlanta in Week 8.